FAA approves American Airlines’ use of the iPad

A while back, American Airlines submitted a request to the FAA requesting approval to use the iPad 2 by their pilots in place of bulky and heavy flight manuals. According to their submission, the weight reduced by not having bulky flight manuals could end up saving AA up to $1 million a year in jet fuel consumption.

The good news is that the FAA has granted their request and has taken it one step further. The FAA is now allowing AA to use the iPad 2 during all aspects of the flight. Starting this Friday, not only will the iPads begin replacing the flight manuals, but will also start to replace traditional paper charts.

By replacing traditional paper charts, it seems that this would save on fuel even more, bringing those savings up from $1 million to $1.2 million yearly savings on jet fuel. Operations will begin on select flight routes on the Boeing 777 aircraft and will slowly make their way across AA’s entire fleet of jets, although no word on when the transition will be complete.