When it boils down to flying, there are many different kinds of checks and balances that need to be made, and pilots do have to be technologically savvy in order to ensure that they will be able to fly a whole plane-load of people to their destination safe and sound. Having said that, tablets have already made their way to the cockpits of airlines such as Delta (which saw their pilots receive a Surface 2 despite them wanting iPads) after receiving authorization from the FAA/EASA. Austrian Airlines, too, want to jump aboard this bandwagon, which is why the Surface Pro 3 tablet that has been qualified for authorization for use as an ‘electronic flight bag’ (EFB) device will soon make their way to the cockpits of Austrian Airlines aircraft.
Just how far will Austrian Airlines go in this particular matter? They intend to roll out up to 950 of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 tablets throughout the entire fleet, and this particular move was done to ensure that “the processes surrounding flight operations are more efficient, that time is saved, and that punctuality is improved.”
Austrian Airlines pilot Dr Philipp Haller, did share that the electronic flight bag being installed on the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 would enable the flight crew to have all of the information relevant on hand concerning the flight even when offline. The Surface Pro 3 model in question would be powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, accompanied by 128GB of internal memory, 4GB RAM, and runs on Windows 8.1. [Press Release]
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