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iPads to Replace Paper Reference Manuals in All AA Cockpits

The FAA has approved American Airlines to be the first commercial airline to have its pilots use iPads in "all phases of flight," rather than the 35lb paper reference manuals they're used to.

Based on current fuel prices, The Next Web estimates that this will save the airline some $1.2M annually, across all of its aircraft. This month, AA's 777 fleet will be the first to get the technological upgrade; by the end of this year, all fleet types are expected to have approval for the switch and the paper manuals will cease to be revised.

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This is a huge environmentally friendly move for AA: not only will the ligher tablets save fuel, based on the weight carried by the planes, but they will also save paper, for ever manual printed and revised, company-wide.

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This would also seem to confirm what we've all long suspected: there is really no real risk to having a tablet turned on during take-off. [TNW]

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Images by Nickolay Lamm/Inventhelp