Several months ago, we announced that all Envoy pilots will receive a company-provided Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), and now we’re getting ready to roll the program out to the line.

Forty pilots have been selected to be the first to receive and test specially-configured Apple iPad Air 2 tablets. The feedback from these pilots will be used to manage the full rollout later this year.

“Using a standardized digital platform – in this case Apple iPads – is great for Envoy and for our pilots,” said Captain Trevor Johnson, Director Flight Operations-Technical. “Physically, it’s much easier to carry around than a bag of manuals, and it opens up the possibility to add operational functionality down the line.”

With EFBs, pilots can view detailed weather, route and airport information, and can easily access and search aircraft manuals. All EFBs will have 4G LTE connectivity on the ground, and pilots can save information for easy access while in the air.

All pilots in the test group will receive a protective case for their device, while Captains will also receive a power unit capable of charging two devices at once, to ensure that no one runs out of juice when they need it most. Look for more updates as we roll out EFBs to all of our pilots later this year!