Passengers can check flight schedules on their iPad, check in before the gate, as well as view terminal maps... but so can the cockpit now too.
The Federal Aviation Administration says pilots are now approved to use iPads during all phases of flight starting Friday.
Passengers, however, must still keep theirs on airplane mode.
Approved: The FAA has approved the use of iPads in the cockpits of planes as a means to cut down on paper waste which adds to fuel costs
American pilots last year tested the iPads as a way to replace paper manuals in the cockpit and with their following success have mutually succeeded in reaching the FAA's approval.
According to Seattle Pi, the electronic swap of manuals, maps, and charts into a thin handheld device will save 35 pounds of paper and therefore $1.2 million worth of fuel each year.
'By eliminating bulky flight bags filled with paper, (electronic flight bags) mean less weight for pilots to carry, reducing the possibility of injury on duty,' First Officer Hank Putek, a member of the APA Safety Committee, said in a news release obtained by SeatlePi.
'In addition, they enable pilots to immediately download updates, rather than waiting for paper versions of required documents to be printed and distributed,' Mr Putek said.
Test: American plots have been testing the use of the iPads over paper maps, reports and charts in the cockpit over the last year before getting the FAA's approval
American Airlines will be the first airline in the world to take on the transition starting Friday, according to zdnet.com.
The FAA acknowledges that the iPad is a 'commercial-off-the-shelf electronic hardware that is not approved or certified by the FAA,' according to a released 'Information for Operators' guide.
'However, it can be authorized for use by a principal operations inspector if it meets ... operation specification or management specification...' the FAA further explains.
First: American Airlines flights will be the first to use the iPads on Friday
In addition to going paperless, the iPads were also recently chosen as the designed device to carry a new program offered to pilots called 'Inflight 911 Services.'
This new program is said to establish a 'top-priority connection' between the aircraft personnel and emergency services team through the aircraft's Wi-Fi internet connection, according to InFlight911Services.
'We envision several iPads being available throughout the aircraft from the cockpit through the cabin ready to be used as a source of 'air-to-ground' communication during an in-air emergency,' Joseph Bekanich, a spokesperson for InFlight Labs said in a release.
The FAA reminds however that their operators 'transitioning to a paperless cockpit [will] undergo an evaluation period during which the operator should carry paper backups of the materia