Airliners Tapping iPadsJanuary 06, 2012

 

The iPad and other tablets are all the rage in aviation, but how exactly they will be implementing in the cockpit, the cabin and the hangars is still up in the air, according to a blog post in Aviation Week.

Paul Saunders, of U.K.-based Conduce, a company specializing in mobile strategies for aviation, wrote that keeping up with the ambitions of the industry to deploy iPads is becoming a full-time job. But he advises caution, noting that developers are not experts on the intricacies of the aviation industry’s needs despite the huge demand.

In his guest blog post on Aviation Week, he writes "although the expectation for iPads in aviation was very high, there would be some problems on the way towards using them in a cost effective manner."

Here are his expectations for 2012:

  • Airlines that announced iPad initiatives are ready to move from testing to implementation.
  • Tablets, and more specifically iPads, will expand from the cockpit to the cabin, as flight attendants tap apps for data acquisition and passenger manifests.
  • Engineering teams, using rubberized protection for iPads, will tap technical publications and specifications to maintain the airliners.