United Airlines today announced the carrier will equip its flight attendants with Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, putting important safety and service information at flight attendants’ fingertips while enhancing their ability to meet customers’ needs.
The airline will begin distribution to its more than 23,000 mainline flight attendants during the second quarter of 2015. Upon introduction, the devices will have the ability to handle most onboard retail transactions and will enable access to company email, united.com and the company’s Intranet as well as policies and procedures manuals.
Future enhancements include replacing the flight attendants’ printed safety manual with an electronic version on their iPhones and providing real-time reporting and improved follow-up on aircraft cabin issues and repairs. Additionally, United plans to develop a number of customer-focused tools for the device.
The deployment of iPhone 6 Plus for United flight attendants follows the airline’s deployment of iPads to pilots beginning in 2011, in a move toward creating paperless aircraft and flight decks. United has renewed the iPad pilot program with iPad Air 2.
Source: United Airlines
Oh wow UA flight attendants get Apple iPhone Plus while Pilots at Delta get Microsoft Surface.
I see so many jokes in the future.
You’re kidding. I’m never flying Delta again. I actually want to get to my destination (and not my final destination if you know what I mean :))
That happened to me when I successfully escaped from down under. They actually wanted to prevent me from returning to a civilized country by giving me a little “detour”. I played hardball and finally got out, but thousands of kilometers from my original intended destination.
I’ve never flown Delta of course but pilots running Windows, makes me shudder.
This, is why idiot CEOs keep cutting pilots pay!
As a Delta fan I’m bummed…I’m sure there was a significant transaction of money from microsoft to Delta to make that happen (see NFL)…
Will they have to use them in Airplane Mode?
Meant to say “Cool.” Had a snark attack.
The apps they use will be very interesting. I wonder if they are part of the Apple-IBM partnership.
Nothing hotter than a little flight attendant with a gigantic phone.
I wonder which Apple store they went to to pick them up.
For a $17,000,000+ purchase, I’m sure they’re shipped direct from the factory.
Pffft! Only 23,000 iPhones? Doesn’t Google activate that many Android smartphones every minute? Apple better pick up its market share percentage or get left in the dust. No wait… They’re so far behind Android in market share, the dust has already settled. Ba-boom.
/s
I’m sure that number is rather laughable to Wall Street considering Apple’s falling share price over the past couple of weeks. Microsoft shareholders are definitely laughing at the term “post-PC era” which was supposed to weaken Microsoft.
???
Have you looked at AAPL (stock price) lately? Go to Yahoo or Google finance, plot AAPL against MSFT and tell me what you see. With the exception of last five days, AAPL has been outperformang MSFT for the most of past ten years (70% growth for MSFT, vs 2,150% for AAPL). Even over five years, AAPL is very much ahead (MSFT 60%, AAPL 300%); just last 12 months (MSFT – 25%, AAPL – 50%); just last month: MSFT: -3% (down!); AAPL: +3% (up). You would be hard pressed to find a period in last 15 years where MSFT outperformed AAPL.
Wall Street is undoubtedly very happy about AAPL, the growth of the largest market cap in the world seems to be still defying gravity.
No wonder there’s a long wait for the 6Plus!!! AA hogging the supply causing 23,000 folks who put in an upgrade order for the bigger iPhone to wait for a “promised by” date. However, by deploying Apple products, AA is definitely doing something right post-merger. Their stock is cheap with a P/E so low a snake could reach it….time to buy.
Actually, that’s UA, not AA (United; not American). The company is called United Continental Holdings (stock UAL), P/E is quite high (65!).
“the second quarter of 2015” ?
So, they are going to purchase them just BEFORE the 6s comes out?
Sounds like these may be using some of the new IBM/Apple enterprise software.
I think the bigger news here is that the airline was somehow able to get their hands on 23,000 iPhone 6 Pluses, when most folks are having trouble finding just one.
——RM