Electronic flight bags and newer devices like the Apple iPad and Android-based tablets are part of what is driving Jeppesen to more electronic distribution of its charting products, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. “Our general strategy is that we are facilitating and encouraging the move to a digital content world,” said Rick Ellerbrock, Jeppesen’s chief strategist for aviation, “not just for charts but all the elements pilots deal with on an airplane. Once we’re in the digital world, we can integrate between functions in ways that weren’t possible.”
Jeppesen is not just turning paper charts into digital files, he explained. The move to digital capabilities will include better information management, decision-making and awareness and making flight more cost-effective. One example will be real-time Notam activity as it affects the flight route. Another is giving pilots better awareness of weather so they can make intelligent reroute decisions much earlier, instead of drastic last-minute avoidance maneuvers.
More In Safety
