Delta Air Lines will upgrade all of its pilots to the cellular M1 iPad Pro, AT&T has today announced.
Following the announcement that all Delta flight attendants would receive an iPhone 12 in April, the airline has now said that all pilots will be given an M1 iPad Pro as part of their pilot electronic flight bags (EFB).
The iPad Pro will be used for a range of pre-flight management tasks and processes, where flight data and aircraft load information will be delivered directly to each pilot's EFB, which use custom-built apps. 5G connectivity, supplied by AT&T, will also be essential to how pilots use the device.
iPad Pro is extremely versatile in aviation, with its thin and light design, and bright, immersive display. The powerful new iPad Pro with 5G features the breakthrough Apple-designed M1 chip for a massive leap in performance, an all-new 12MP Ultra-Wide front camera, and advanced Liquid Retina display technologies with ultralow reflectivity for an unmatched viewing experience on the ground and in the air.
Delta follows JetBlue, which started rolling out the M1 iPad Pro to pilots last month, but the airline has been equipping its staff with iPhones and iPads since it dropped Windows devices in 2017.
Top Rated Comments
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!
Note the /S