聯合航空公司（UnitedAirlines）今天表示，正汰換機師們長久使用的厚重飛航手冊與圖表，並以1萬1000台平板電腦iPad來儲存這些資料。

聯合航空母公司聯合大陸控股公司（UnitedContinental Holdings）表示，重僅0.7公斤的iPad將取代傳統重達17公斤的紙本指南、資料與圖表，以輔助飛航。

這些iPad將搭載波音公司（Boeing）旗下Jeppesen公司所開發的應用軟體Mobile FliteDeck。該公司專門研發陸海空導航工具。

聯合航空主管飛航作業的副總裁艾波特（FredAbbott）說：「駕駛艙走向無紙化境界，宣告了下個飛航年代的到來。引進iPad可確保機師在整個飛航期間，皆可隨時一手掌握必要的即時資訊。」

聯合航空與大陸航空（Continental Airlines）兩家公司於去年整併，此設備將提供給兩家公司的所有機師使用。

美國聯邦航空總署（Federal AviationAdministration）批准在駕駛艙內使用iPad後，阿拉斯加航空（Alaska Airlines）也在5月開始採用。

聯合航空估計，採用iPad後1年將可減少1600萬張紙的用量。而減少裝載這些紙張的重量，將可省下1200萬公升的燃油。公司表示：「採用iPad可使機師查閱參考資料更快更有效率，而不必動手翻查數千頁的手冊，進而減少駕駛艙的凌亂。」

United, Continental embrace iPads in the cockpit

United and Continental are the latest airlines to ditch heavy paper flight manuals for iPads.

United Continental Holdings on Tuesday announced that it is deploying 11,000 iPads to all United and Continental pilots.

"The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying," said Captain Fred Abbott, United's senior vice president of flight operations, in a press release. "The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight."

Each iPad, which weighs less than 1.5 pounds, will replace a pilot's 38-pound flight bag that currently holds paper operating manuals, navigation charts, reference handbooks, flight checklists, logbooks and weather information. Instead, pilots will be able to quickly access reference material via an app, and updates can be immediately downloaded.

Distribution of iPads began earlier this month, and all pilots should have them by the end of the year.

United and Continental join Alaska Airlines, which earlier this summer became the first major airline to replace paper manuals with iPads in the cockpit. American Airlines is currently in the middle of a six-month test of iPads in the cockpit.

Reference: Yahoo, CNA, 法新社華盛頓23日電