When Captain Carl Feldcamp takes off from the Toronto island airport on the inaugural Air Canada Express flight to Montreal this morning, he'll be depending on his iPad.
Sky Regional Airlines Inc., which is operating Air Canada Express, has issued Apple tablets to all its captains and an extra iPad is assigned to each cockpit.
Instead of lugging around manuals filled with rules and regulations, Feldcamp taps on iPad, checking everything from flight plans to weather radar pictures.
“You don't have to carry binders full of charts. All of the charts in the whole world are right in here. And you don't have paperwork,” said Feldcamp. “We've had them for a few weeks. It's awesome.”
On the ground, the pilots can link up to head office with instant updates and information and even hold Skype conversations on Bluetooth equipment. But once in the air, they turn off wireless connection like other passengers, and use information that has already been downloaded.
Captain Matt Sattler, who will be flying the inaugural flight from Montreal on Sunday, confesses he's not a high-tech junkie, but they are the first commercial pilots in Canada to be equipped with iPads. Plus he now carries a small bag instead of huge briefcases.
There's another iPad in the 70-seat plane for the two flight attendants, so they can see details like boarding times or gates or special meals.
Air Canada is resuming service from Toronto island after a five-year absence, with up to 15 daily round-trips to Montreal. The move is designed to compete with Porter Airlines, which has the majority of the takeoff and landing slots at the airport, also using Bombardier Q400 turboprops.
Al Read, Sky Regional's director of operations and security, says changes to procedures or updates are easily updated electronically, compared with paper.
While some manuals remain on board, the move has eliminated about 50 pounds of paper, which given today's fuel prices translates into savings.
“At $112 a barrel, every pound is important,” Read said.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article ... ipad-check
One can only wish we had this technology yet instead we are reminded of the roadblocks to getting it and are discouraged from using our own. Perhaps it could help us avoid situations like this or improve our customer service. I guess we'll have to spend the money on paint instead
http://avherald.com/h?article=43bf76e5
