
Microsoft's Surface 2 will replace paper manuals on all Delta aircraft - jamesbritt
http://www.techspot.com/news/54180-microsofts-surface-2-will-replace-paper-manuals-on-all-delta-aircraft.html
======
programminggeek
What's funny is Microsoft likely had to give Delta a steep discount just to
get this PR win. With the iPad, companies will use it because it's a great
product that people want to use, so they use it. I guess Microsoft will do
what it has to do to get someone to use the Surface 2.

~~~
curiousDog
In what ways exactly is the iPad a very great product compared to the surface
2 (which isn't even out yet?). IMO, both have advantages over each other. In
fact, I'd say it's more useful than the ipad considering that the pilots won't
be using it to only watch netflix. The Surface 2 at least allows for a bit of
productivity with the free office suite.

Seems like people would want to use iPad just because it was the first to
enter the market and has the mind share. I'd consider this to be a good way of
garnering some of that.

~~~
xenophanes
FYI new ios devices come with apple's free office productivity software now
(pages, keynote, numbers). they announced that at the iphone event a few weeks
ago.

but the airlines don't want the pilots using office software, that's not what
these devices are for.

the reason many pilots prefer ipad, i would guess, is because of better/easier
UI conventions for ios apps and possibly a better touch screen. that would
actually be relevant in the flight related apps the devices are meant for.

~~~
DuskStar
Note that only the iPhone 5s and 5c will receive iWork for free - all of the
older devices still require the purchase of those apps. "Older" includes all 4
iPads, as far as I know.

As for better ui - I've heard very few complaints about Metro on a
touchscreen. The biggest complaints I've heard are about using it with a mouse
and keyboard, which isn't exactly the normal Surface 2 or iPad use case.

~~~
delinka
I bought a new iPad mini this week. Came with iOS 6. Upgraded to iOS 7
immediately. Rebooted, was offered all iWork apps for free. Have them
installed.

------
NathanKP
Interestingly Delta was supposedly testing iPads for use inflight instead of
paper manuals back in 2011. [1]

I wonder why they are going with the Surface now?

The US Air Force [2] and American Airlines [3] are both using iPads. I'd be
really interested in seeing why Delta decided to go with the Surface, unless
it is something as simple as Microsoft is giving Delta a massive discount in
exchange for the PR boost to try to catch up with the iPads adoption by other
airlines and by the army.

[1] [http://www.padgadget.com/2011/03/07/delta-air-lines-
alaska-a...](http://www.padgadget.com/2011/03/07/delta-air-lines-alaska-
airlines-testing-ipad-as-in-cockpit-flight-tool/)

[2] [http://www.geekwire.com/2013/air-force-
deploying-18000-ipads...](http://www.geekwire.com/2013/air-force-
deploying-18000-ipads-replace-bulky-paper-flight-manuals/)

[3]
[http://www.dailytech.com/American+Airlines+Wins+FAA+Approval...](http://www.dailytech.com/American+Airlines+Wins+FAA+Approval+to+Use+iPad+in+Cockpit+During+All+Phases+of+Flight/article27646.htm)

Edit: Another comment linked to an Apple Insider article which says that the
Surface deal was "about money, travel contracts, and Delta's Information
Technology staff historically being "in bed" with Microsoft."

[http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/30/delta-pilots-
fough...](http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/30/delta-pilots-fought-
against-deal-to-replace-ipad-flight-bags-with-microsoft-surface)

~~~
jamesbritt
_Interestingly Delta was supposedly testing iPads for use inflight instead of
paper manuals back in 2011._

I believe that at the time the iPad was the only FAA-approved Electronic
Flight Bag.

~~~
cgore
I worked on this one for a little while:

[http://www.astronautics.com/index.php?q=content/electronic-f...](http://www.astronautics.com/index.php?q=content/electronic-
flight-bag)

I have trouble imagining either the iPad or the Surface being used for
anything critical.

------
film42
So as it turns out, many airline companies are switching to tablets. My
girlfriend's father is a pilot for South West and currently in their beta
program. He used to carry 10LBs of binders in a big leather briefcase, but
that's all been moved onto the ipad. He loves it!

------
nostromo
Do they have to turn it off during takeoff and landing?

~~~
yaeger
Article talks about its usage during "all phases of flight" so I guess they
will use it all the time.

------
WalterBright
I don't know why this isn't integrated into the instrument panel. That way,
it's always there, always ready to go, and isn't going to bounce around the
cockpit.

~~~
film42
So the instrument panel contains essentials, but lacks company specific
procedures. For example: Each airline has a different 'start up' procedures
for their planes, even the planes they all have, like the 737. It also lacks
the thousands of pages of documentation and instructional manuals that are
often never used, but required to have.

Those documents can get to be +7MB at times, which isn't great if there's no
wifi or spotty 3G access. The reason you need internet is because the
handbooks are changing constantly, and there are lots of them.

What they are adding, at least South West, is a place to mount your tablet in
the cockpit, and it's pretty nice how it's positioned (I'd have to ask my gf's
dad for the picture he showed me).

All in all, it's a great move, and I've heard great feedback from pilots using
them.

~~~
WalterBright
Why would updating the manuals be a problem if it was in the instrument panel?
Heck, you could even have the documents on an SD card the pilot just plugs in.
Or the ground crew could be responsible for keeping it up to date. I just
don't see the problem.

------
nivla
Interesting but I am not sure if it is a good idea replacing paper manuals
with electronic devices. How useful are these manuals during an emergency?
What if the device starts glitching or is low on battery? How much
interference can these devices cause, given the current rule is to switch off
all electronic devices during takeoff and landing? Would they be put on
"Airplane Mode"?

~~~
PeterisP
1) I believe that finding anything on a digital device is quicker in an
emergency than looking it up on 38 pound pile of paper;

2) To prevent failures, take a redundant secondary device (anyways, each co-
pilot would/should have one).

3) "Airplane mode" would be perfectly fine, as the device should store all
manuals locally anyways, and need a connection only to be updated with newest
content.

Personally, I'd say that something like a Kindle would be better than the
Surface for this particular task.

~~~
veemjeem
I hope you mean kindle fire, because the base kindle would be too slow to
anyone to quickly flip through the pages.

------
geophile
Serious question, as I haven't used Windows in years: How reliable are these
things (the current generation of Surface)? On an aircraft, a BSOD could have
a literal meaning.

~~~
dangrossman
Windows itself virtually never crashes. The only thing that'll cause a 2005+
system to crash is hardware failure, or a hardware driver failure/bug. I have
a 2010 laptop I use daily that's not once BSOD'd. My Surface Pro has never
BSOD'd. My older desktop has, but the message has always been related to the
graphics driver, and I sometimes have to reseat the card to get it to boot, so
it's probably a physical world problem.

~~~
MichaelGG
And in fact, with Vista/7 they changed the way the graphic drivers work. I've
had my GPU card crash several times, and all I got was a blank screen for a
few seconds, followed by a notice that the video driver died and restarted.
Sometimes it might flip into "basic" mode after that. Before, such a problem
would have been a BSOD.

------
rinon
And when the tablet crashes and won't boot up? Sounds like a safety issue to
me...

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
No more of a safety issue than using iPads.

~~~
XorNot
Which seems like equally a bad idea unless you've got the paper manuals _right
there_ as well.

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mey
This appears to be the software doing all the work
[http://ww1.jeppesen.com/aviation/products/flitedeck-
pro/inde...](http://ww1.jeppesen.com/aviation/products/flitedeck-
pro/index.jsp)

Which is available for both iOS and Windows.

------
JimmaDaRustla
I think everyone is over-thinking this: Delta probably received bids with some
simple requirements (screen size, resolution, PDF/document capabilities,
battery life, etc.)

Microsoft strikes discounted price deal coupling it as a marketing
opportunity. Why WOULDN'T Delta use the Surface if they can get it for
significantly cheaper than other alternatives, plus it still has the ability
to be expanded in the future (automatically file syncing, user permissions,
communication, etc.)

------
codex
iPad's been doing this for years; what's the news? Deep discounts for a design
win?

~~~
FireBeyond
Right - where by 'for years' you mean "was approved for Flight Deck use by the
FAA at the end of 2011?

~~~
JimmaDaRustla
"They've been doing it for year!"

------
delinka
Replacing flight bags with tablets is a prime use case for technology.
Eliminate the weight, the replacement pages, the distribution expense. Push
digital documents and _poof_ pilots have the latest data.

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rch
Why not use something based on an e-ink display?

~~~
Tloewald
Wild guess: color support.

------
javajosh
Well, at least MSFT finally found somewhere to put all those unpurchased
Surfi.

~~~
taspeotis
> javajosh 4 minutes ago | link | parent | flag

> Well, at least MSFT finally found somewhere to put all those unpurchased
> Surfi

All those unsold Surface 1 tablets?

> Microsoft's Surface 2 will replace paper manuals on all Delta aircraft

Pray tell where those unsold Surface 1 tablets are going.

~~~
CamperBob2
I imagine they'll be buried in the desert next to all those CueCats, Atari
'E.T.' cartridges, and assorted drums of low-level nuclear waste.

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tn13
Did some ex-microsoft executive joined Delta as CEO ?

