Atlas Air is preparing for electronic flight bag (EFB) installation on one Boeing 747-400 purpose-built freighter in July, part of an FAA-funded programme to gather runway safety data.
The cargo operator inked deals with ECS and Astronautics to eventually equip 17 -400Fs, using a $510,000 grant from the FAA. The agency plans to gather data from EFBs at 21 airports with a history of runway incursions that FAA believes could have been prevented by using technology included in the EFB.
Atlas is one of several carriers participating in the programme.
FAA awarded $600,000 each to SkyWest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, US Airways and its wholly-owned regional subsidiary Piedmont Airlines to support EFB installation on 20 aircraft each.
Of those, SkyWest is the only carrier to finalize a supplier contract. The regional selected DAC International, which has already installed equipment on a couple Bombardier CRJ700s. SkyWest plans for the technology to go live in September as the airline develops standard operating procedures. Southwest says it expects to decide on a vendor soon.
In addition, FAA allocated $680,000 to regional carrier Shuttle America to equip 20 Embraer E-170s with EFBs and aural alerting systems. The agency also awarded $544,000 to regional CommutAir to outfit 16 Dash 8s with EFBs and aural alerting systems
The agreements between the carriers and the FAA are in effect through September 2011.
Participating airports include facilities in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Daytona Beach, Charlotte, Miami, Anchorage, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
