Well, it now seems that American Airlines has had their request approved by the FAA . What request was that? Apparently, the airline wanted their pilots to be able to use iPads instead of their traditional paper flight charts. Overall, this means that the pilots no longer have to haul around a huge 40-pound flight chart book.

This does mean that American Airlines is now the very first major airline to get this kind of approval from the FAA. However, there have been a number of smaller charter flights that have been using iPads for some time now. Of course, other airlines are likely to follow in the footsteps of American Airlines. In fact, some may remember that Alaska and Delta have both made it pretty clear that they have been thinking about using iPads as well. This approval for American Airlines is likely going to push other airlines to follow suit.

Now, airlines are saying that they are going to be able to save on fuel by switching from the paper flight charts to the iPad. This is because the flight charts weight over 35 pounds more than the iPad. By taking these flight charts off each flight, it reduces the weight of each plane and thus saves on fuel. However, it will help airlines save money on paper and printing because they will not have to make these big expensive flight books. Overall, the good news is that this should help any airline that is willing to make the switch a lot of money. In time, the iPad will pay itself off.