It was announced recently that Delta Airlines will use the upcoming Surface 2, which has Windows RT 8.1 installed on it, as their tool to replace their current 38 pound flight bags in the cockpit.
Here is the video detailing some of the benefits the electronic flight bag will bring to Delta’s cockpits.
The reason I wanted to share this was to highlight the sheer level of savings this change will bring to Delta as it seems to be a popular discussion point on this video over at YouTube. Many are referring to the 38 pound reference and saying it really does not make any difference in the long run because of future variables such as passengers bringing onboard more stuff, etc.
The reality is that even if passengers do bring more onboard the 38 pound flight bags are not coming onboard as they switch to Surface 2 so the weight savings is a reality.
Just how much of an overall weight savings does this equal up to once they completely shift over to the electronic flight bags?
To do the math we need the figures so lets do this like one of our old math problems we used to get in school.
In the video it is said that the Surface 2 will replace a 38 pound flight bag and that there are over 2,500 flights per day. At least one member of the cockpit crew brings a flight bag and typically both the pilot and co-pilot bring one.
So if we wanted to figure out the overall weight savings per year the equation would look like this:
38 (weight of flight bag) times 2500 (flights per day) times 365 (days in a year) = annual weight savings
38 x 2500 x 365 = 34,675,000
You can round it up and say there is an overall weight savings with this switch of 34.7 million pounds per year.
If both the pilot and co-pilot bring a flight bag onboard then you can multiply that number by a factor of 2. I would say that equates to a significant fuel savings.
Now if the airline would pass that savings along to the customer in lower ticket costs then it can be a Win-Win!
