ANA to Equip All Flight Crew with iPads

Japan’s ANA Group is equipping all of its approximately 2,500 flight crew with an iPad, in addition to the already equipped cabin crew.

The move, which will involve ANA producing electronic versions of the flight manual, is part of ANA’s Corporate Strategy for FY2012-13 to support corporate structural reform to drive high-quality operations and cost efficiencies.

ANA will trial the iPad amongst 300 crew members for three months from September 2012. The iPads will be rolled out for all flight and crew members from February 2013.

ANA believes there are three key benefits of introducing the iPad to all flight and crew members:

Operations: The iPads will allow flight crews access weather and other flight-related information latest data wherever they are. They will enable flight crew to choose the route and altitude with the least turbulence, and to help ensure operations run on-time.

Conserving Fuel: The iPads will give constant access to the latest passenger reservation information and cargo volume information, thereby promoting optimization of fuel loading to each flight.

Improving Internal Procedures: Paperless manuals reduce printing costs and streamline the process of distributing and updating manuals that can run to several thousand pages over the course of the year. The iPads will also allow ANA to provide voice and video-based training and educational materials, facilitating more effective knowledge acquisition and supporting the maintenance and improvement of each individual flight crew member's skill levels.

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