Continuing on with the move United already made last year (in equipping their pilots with iPads for handbooks and now upgrading them to iPad Air 2s), United has now said that they will be equipping 23,000 flight attendants with the new iPhone 6 Plus in the second quarter of 2015.
Airlines have been progressively embracing tablets and phones to replace their bulky predecessors in the crews hands and kits. The iPhone 6 Plus gives a 5.5″ display with the familiar Apple iOS platform and will be used for onboard purchases and accessing company e-mail and manuals. United has said that future enhancements will include the safety manual and real-time updating and notifications of delays and equipment issues.
United also has plans to release specialized apps for their flight attendants to put the phones to better use. It will be interesting to see how well this new connectivity helps in keeping flight attendants better informed and, hopefully, the passengers. That or they now have a great device that can allow them to play games beyond Tetris. 🙂
Apple is still backed up in the chain on iPhone 6 Pluses listing a 2-3 week delay in getting them delivered. Obviously, they will be shipping within normal delivery estimates by the time United rolls them out. So, if you really want an iPhone 6 Plus for free, that could be one push towards becoming a United flight attendant. Just make sure you are a mainline FA as they are the only ones that will be getting them!
