United Airlines Pilots To Use iPads -- Obviously Not a Bakken Story

Updates

From MacRumors:

Over the past several months, we've made several mentions of commercial airlines testing the iPad as a replacement for flight bags used by pilots. The testing programs have been looking to replace bulky and heavy flight bags full of navigational charts and other materials with iPads in order to reduce the weight of pilots' bags and save fuel on flights. 

Give me a break! To "save fuel on flights." As much as I love Apple, Inc., I know that can't possibly be accurate.

I can't make this stuff up.

Original Post

As regular readers know, the only thing that I enjoy as much as the Bakken is Apple, Inc. I especially enjoy the iPad.

United Airlines is replacing hardcopies of navigation aids with an iPad for each pilot.

Link here.

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and chart books its pilots have long used with 11,000 iPads carrying the same data. 

The 1.5 pound iPad will take the place of about 38 pounds of paper instructions, data and charts pilots have long used to help guide them, parent company United Continental Holdings said.

The popular tablet computer will carry the Mobile FliteDeck software app from Jeppesen, a Boeing subsidiary which provides navigation tools for air, sea and land.

Besides less weight, the iPad is more environmentally friendly. 

One of the nice things about non-government entities, they are more agile in their decision-making process. I say this because during my years with the military it was obvious that Apple, Inc., had better tools than Microsoft, but yet, the "powers that be" were unable to migrate to Apple. The folks in the graphics departments at all the major headquarters were using Apple products, but the rest of the military were still using "PCs." We weren't allowed to switch from Blackberries to iPhones due to "security concerns." Those security concerns apparently have gone by the wayside, and military members are now allowed to use iPhones.

But I doubt the military is switching to iPads any time soon.