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| An electronic flight attendant manual. Photo: American Airlines |
[Avionics Today 09-11-2014] American Airlines has begun providing flight attendants with electronic manuals, accessible through a handheld tablet, which will save the carrier an estimated $300,000 annually in costs that would otherwise be spent printing and shipping updates for the manuals.
American is the first mainline carrier to make the switch with flight attendants starting the use of eManuals exclusively on Sept. 1, after a six-month test-evaluation period with oversight from the FAA. The company projects that by switching to the completely digital format from the nearly five pound paper manual, it will also save nearly $650,000 in fuel costs each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2,100 metric tons annually.
In addition to the manual, the tablet provides real-time updates to flight attendants about premium customers, special meals, connection gates, special services and other information. The eManuals will next roll out to US Airways flight attendants after the two carriers achieve a Single Operating Certificate (SOC), planned for mid-2015.