This test program will provide pilots with iPads running a specialized app that will contain all the information the pilot needs, without all the paper. Information like flight navigation charts will be included in the app. And, according to American Airlines, this tool could save the airline more than a million dollars annually in fuel costs.

Prior to the Pilot iPad app, pilots would carry flight bags that often weighed 35 pounds or more. To test if the iPad is the better method, the airline has placed the system on two flights scheduled between Los Angeles and Shanghai and Tokyo.

American Airlines is taking a green approach to pilot support, but they aren’t the first airline to try and go paperless. Alaska Air actually started to make the move in May, implementing the iPad as a viable alternative to paper charts.

Initially, the iPad was classified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration as a “class 1” electronic device. This classification meant that the device had to be stowed during takeoff and landing, even if a pilot was using the device. Such requirements rendered the iPad useless as a tool for pilots relying on such information during these critical times in flight.

Evolution has occurred among the FAA, however, as the iPad has now been approved for use with the specialized app to provide the necessary tables and additional information to be used during all phases of flight. As a result, this trial run is the first time the tablet has been able to be used during takeoff and landing.

Not to be outdone by Apple, the Samsung (News - Alert) Galaxy tablet also has a home among American airlines flights. The airline began offering some first class and business class customers access to the tablets running the Android (News - Alert) operating system to use for in-flight entertainment. The tablets could also be used to connect with WiFi networks available on certain aircraft models.
This is great positioning for the Galaxy tab, but it still doesn’t have the clearance of the iPad, simply because it cannot run the FAA-approved app for flight charting. Will that change in the near future, or does Apple have the market cornered on this app? The success of this test run could determine the answer.