A press release from Alaska Airlines says that the carrier will issue iPads to its pilots in order to replace the 25 lbs worth of paper flight manuals they carry on every flight. The move is part of “an ongoing effort to use technology to enhance flight safety, improve efficiency and protect the environment, the airline says. The iPad manual system has been subjected to extensive testing by 100 line and instructor pilots and Air Line Pilots Association representatives. The airline is also said to be looking at replacing aeronautical navigation charts in an effort to further reduce the material pilots use in flight. If they manage that, then the combination of efforts are expected to save about 2.4 million pieces of paper. Of course, there is still the matter of using a Class 1 electronic device among all of those pieces of allegedly highly sensitive aviation electronics. Alaska Airlines has indicated that the pilots will have to stow their iPads during takeoff and landing just like the rest of us. So what do you think? Is it a good thing that paper flight manuals are being replaced with Apple’s popular tablet computer? Or would you prefer to have these resources on paper rather than something that runs on batteries? Source: Alaska Airlines