Manufacturer to adapt 737NG and 747-400 cockpits as it secures customers for Class 3 electronic flight bags
Boeing is preparing to begin deliveries of its Class 3 electronic flight bag (EFB) on the Next Generation 737 and the 747-400, as it broadens the application for the device beyond the 777.
The manufacturer has secured customers for the EFB, which it developed in conjunction with its Jeppesen subsidiary, for the 737NG and the 747 – both in retrofit and new-build applications.
The integral Class 3 device originally entered service in late 2003 on KLM’s new 777-200ERs.
Boeing says the launch customer for the installation on the 737NG is an “unspecified BBJ customer”, which is taking the EFB on a new-build aircraft. This customer is also the launch operator for the device on the 747-400 – again for a new-build installation.
Boeing says that the EFB on the 737-based BBJ will be certificated in “late 2005” after a brief flight-test programme, with the 747 following early next year.
Each of the EFB’s two rectangular displays is installed to the side of the pilots’ main instrument panel. The displays are controlled by buttons along each side of the touchscreen, with a “qwerty” keyboard offered as an option.
Although Boeing has made provision in the cockpits of all 777s for the EFB displays, they will require new surrounds for installation on the 737NG and 747-400, and the crew’s oxygen masks will need to be slightly relocated on those aircraft.
Boeing has secured additional orders for the EFB on the 737NG from “several BBJ operators” as well as from airlines, covering new-build and retrofit contracts. However, the manufacturer only has the one customer so far for the 747-400. The EFB will be standard on the 787.
A total of 112 Jeppesen Class 3 EFB shipsets have been ordered, predominately for new-build 777s, with customers including Air New Zealand (ANZ), Emirates, EVA Air, KLM, Malaysia Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines.
Corporate operator MidEast Jet was launch operator for the 777 EFB retrofit package.
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/SEATTLE
Source: Flight International
