Delta Next Airline to Roll Out M1 iPad Pro to Pilots

Paper charts don't need batteries.

Sure just carry paper maps for the entire planet and manuals for a dozen airplanes.

Every major airline in the US uses the iPad for charts, manuals etc and has been for years now. My airline bought the Air 3 a few years back and we're due for a refresh soon. I think an Air makes more sense than a Pro - I'd rather carry the lightest device possible for a given screen size.

Paper charts don't need batteries.

You don't fly IFR in multiple aircraft often, do you?

Sure, it's a computer that replaced an entire paper system. But we also don't know what other apps are being installed. So I doubt it's "one app only". Probably an entire suite of apps dedicated to flight management. One thing the ipad does better than other computers of the same ilk and different operating systems.

In the early days the iPad was essentially a digital chart reader, but to Jeppesen's credit they hired some programmers/designers that really understood Apple's vision for tablet computing and as such their chart viewer was much, much nicer than what was available for tablet Windows XP machines (remember Motion Computing?) at the time. The iPad quickly became ubiquitous in commercial flight decks - generally first in corporate/charter aviation (think private jets), then later to the airlines. The iPad's success got the attention of other app developers, and eventually a bunch of various aviation related tools became available.

Anyway, it's not just a chart and manual viewer anymore. We have landing performance apps, anti/de-icing checklists and holdover calculation apps. Comprehensive weather and planning apps. I can talk to dispatch or the maintenance folks via VoIP over the aircraft's wifi, and even have the call sent directly to my headset via bluetooth. We have aircraft systems and FMS trainers to keep sharp. And probably a half dozen other things that I can't remember right now. :)

It's come a long way from just being a glorified pdf viewer!

Though some Delta employees will keep their Windows Phone OS phones, since those are the only “business grade heavy duty phones fit for certain pro business pilots that take their productivity seriously“, Delta and Microsoft said in a joint statement

I wonder why they did not get a Mac to get a real computer and a real finder app? After all, everyone (at Macrumours) has been told repeatedly that the iPad is a TOY and not a computer for professionals/S

Note the /S