Delta chooses MSFT surface tablets
 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Delta Air Lines plans to buy 11,000 Microsoft Surface 2 tablets for its pilots to replace the heavy bundles of books and maps they haul around now.

Other airlines, including American and United, have been buying Apple's iPad for that purpose.

Delta says the Surface tablets will save it $13 million per year in fuel and other costs. Right now, each pilot carries a 38-pound flight bag with manuals and maps.

Delta plans to test the tablets on its Boeing 757s and 767s, which are flown by the same group of pilots. The airline is hoping for Federal Aviation Administration approval next year to use the tablets throughout a flight, and it hopes to be using the devices on all of its other planes by the end of next year.

One reason Delta picked a Microsoft device was that it's easier to give pilots separate sections for company and personal use, said Steve Dickson, Delta's senior vice president for flight operations.

Pilots will be able to install personal software and keep their own items such as photos on the personal section of the devices, while another portion will be dedicated to Delta's software, Dickson said.

"We trust them to manage that side of the device," Dickson said.

Another reason for picking the Surface tablet is that Delta's training software also runs on the same Windows operating system as the tablets, reducing the need to redo that software for another device, Dickson said.

Delta has already done a test program where pilots could bring their own devices, including iPads.

In August, Delta said its flight attendants will get Windows phones to process in-flight sales of food, better seats, and other items.

Microsoft announced last week that it is updating its tablet line, which includes the Surface 2s that Delta is buying. The Surface 2 is the cheaper of the two versions sold by Microsoft, retailing for $449 each. Dickson declined to say how much Delta is paying

*fervently hopes that this won't spark an Apple/MS flamewar, as they usually make A vs. B look like a group hug by comparison...*

Very advantageous terms no doubt. Wonder what the warranty period is.

How could it when one side is so fashion conscious, it would spoil their looks. Handbags at dawn old fruity!

BTW 'we' use the ipad, no complaints as a work tool. Pretty tatty system though when trying to integrate with the rest of the company.

This factoid is interesting, while the iPad can only run one program at a time, the Surface can run multiple programs...

"Delta does stand out as unique, though, for choosing the Microsoft Surface. The Surface 2 tablets will run Jeppesen’s FliteDeck Pro app, which was built for Windows 8.1. The app provides pilots with all of the research and reference materials normally found in the flight bag, with the added benefit of real-time access to relevant information as conditions change.

The Delta press release explains how some of the unique aspects of Windows 8.1 influenced the decision to go with Surface 2: “With the Windows RT 8.1 operating system, pilots will be able to open two applications side-by-side, offering, for example, the opportunity to assess weather information alongside proposed flight paths.”

Edit: Link to Delta Delta to equip 11,000 pilots with Microsoft Surface 2 tablet devices - Sep 30, 2013

SLF here.

I hate to spoil the fun, but what happens if one drops a tablet?

Surface.....
 

..the battery life of The Surface is terrible. I couldn't imagine using it as a Class 1 EFB. The iPad outshines them all.

Yes but MS have a pile of unsold tablets and have probably offered Delta a hugely attractive deal. The Surface RT is most definitely not as good as the iPad for battery life but for a touch screen or an EFB in a flight deck with a power socket, it will be excellent, certainly good enough.

In my experience, most complaints on battery life across all portable devices tend to come down to the user not realising that they've left Wi-Fi on, then going outside and remaining oblivious to the fact that every time the OS scans for Wi-Fi points it munches battery.

Things go all multicoloured and weird.

Cheers for that, LSM.

*wipes coffee off of monitor*

Cheers for that, LSM.

*wipes coffee off of monitor*

ditto :ok:

Is this accurately reported? AFAIK, the Surface 2 has an ARM chip, and does not run apps for Windows on PCs. So if they want to run a program they already have for Windows 8.1, it will need porting. Have they, perhaps, bought Surface Pros, which will run x86 programs (how well, I don't know)?

at least the surface has a USB port!

@FlightlessParrot:

I'm no fan of MS*, but one thing they have always done well is making life relatively stress-free for developers. As long as Delta's in-house software was written either in a CLR-compatible language (e.g. VB.NET, C#), or even in C++ as long as the APIs are strictly adhered to, then cross-compiling to the ARM platform is trivial.

[* - or Apple for that matter!]