Electronic Flight Bags result in real-life savings
The US Air Force has saved $3.7 million between 2012 and 2017 in fuel costs as a result of the Air Force using electronic flight bags (EFB) digital navigation charts and plates.
According to data from the US Air Force, $3.7 million has been saved between 2012 and 2017 in fuel costs as a result of the Air Force using electronic flight bags (EFB) digital navigation charts and plates instead of paper maps and charts. Master Sergeant Joseph Pinkerton, AMC A3 Standard Evaluation C-5M Examiner Loadmaster, explained that removing 120 lbs of paper from every sortie has saved around $780,000 per year, while EFBs in themselves ‘increase safety and enhance crew access to technical orders’. For crews transporting patients onboard C-17, C-130J, KC-10 and KC-135s, EFBs allow air medical crews to ‘jump from aircraft to aircraft and have everything [they need], lessening the crew burden on carrying equipment’ added Pinkerton.
Advances in technology clearly have their advantages, but they do also come with risks, and one of these is the security of the data being exchanged on the EFBs. Pinkerton said: “In our line of work, cybersecurity takes precedence over everything. We don’t want to detract from the efficiency of using EFBs, but security is important.” EFB hardware and software systems developers are working with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) to promote industry awareness of cybersecurity and to develop better policies in relation to data security, according to Aviation Today. These companies worked with AEEC’s ARINC’s 848 Working Group on a new standard for secure IP broadband communications over public networks.