After some trials, United Airlines has now announced it is ordering 11,000 iPads for pilots. The move represents a major milestone in the adoption of paperless operations within the airline industry.

Each iPad will be loaded with operating manuals, navigation charts, reference handbooks, fight checklists, logbooks and weather information. This will replace 38 pounds of paper in each pilots flight back with a single device weighing in at a much more reasonable 1.5 pounds.

United Airlines is the first major airline to adopt this approach and it will likely be only a matter of time before others follow suit. Meanwhile British Airways is testing the use of iPads with cabin crew which further enforces the impact this new generation of tablets is having on a number of key industries, including the airline industry. It represents a huge paradigm shift towards a more paperless way of working that previously wasn't viable.