Electronic Flight Bag

An Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) is a tablet-based or installed software platform that replaces the traditional paper documents a flight crew historically carried in their flight bag: aeronautical charts, airport diagrams, aircraft operating manuals, minimum equipment lists, performance calculation worksheets, navigation publications, and company operations manuals. By digitizing these references and adding interactive tools for weight and balance, takeoff and landing performance, and fuel planning calculations, the EFB dramatically reduces paper weight, improves chart currency, and speeds up operational computations while maintaining regulatory compliance.

What Is an Electronic Flight Bag?

The FAA defines EFBs in Advisory Circular AC 120-76, which classifies them by type based on installation method. Class 1 EFBs are portable commercial off-the-shelf devices (typically iPads) used in the cockpit but not permanently mounted. Class 2 EFBs are portable devices mounted with FAA-approved mounts during flight. Class 3 EFBs are permanently installed panel-mounted systems integrated with the aircraft's avionics bus. Modern airline EFBs are most commonly Class 1 or 2 — meaning pilots bring company-issued tablets running an airline-configured EFB application — though some aircraft manufacturers are integrating EFB functionality directly into the primary flight display ecosystem.

How It Works in Practice

An airline EFB application typically consolidates several distinct tool categories. The charting module displays Jeppesen or government-source aeronautical charts including SIDs, STARs, instrument approach procedures, airport diagrams, and enroute charts in a pan-and-zoom interface. The performance module replaces the paper performance charts and lookup tables that pilots used to consult for every takeoff: the pilot enters current aircraft weight, temperature, pressure altitude, wind, and runway condition, and the EFB computes certified takeoff speeds (V1, VR, V2), assumed temperature derating, and accelerate-stop distance. The electronic operations manual module gives the crew searchable access to the aircraft's approved flight manual, the airline's operations specifications, and company standard operating procedures.

Airlines update EFB chart databases every 28 days using the AIRAC cycle, pushing updates wirelessly to crew devices before each cycle begins. This eliminates the risk of a pilot consulting an expired paper chart — a real safety hazard in the pre-EFB era, when improperly revised binders sometimes contained superseded instrument approach procedures.

Why It Matters

The weight reduction achieved by eliminating paper flight bags is immediately significant: a traditional paper flight bag weighed between 15 and 35 kilograms per crew member, containing thousands of pages of Jeppesen charts, performance manuals, and operations documentation. A modern airline carrying two pilots on a narrowbody saves 30 to 70 kilograms per flight compared to full paper libraries — a meaningful fuel cost saving multiplied across thousands of daily departures. American Airlines estimated that replacing paper manuals with iPads across its fleet would save over 1.2 million gallons of fuel annually.

Beyond weight and fuel, EFBs improve operational safety by ensuring every procedure reference is the current approved version, and by enabling interactive tools that reduce calculation errors in weight-and-balance and performance computations.

Key Facts and Figures

• American Airlines was the first carrier to gain FAA approval to use iPads as Electronic Flight Bags replacing paper manuals across its entire operation, approved in 2013.
• A traditional paper Jeppesen chart subscription for a single pilot on a global operation weighed approximately 15 kilograms and contained roughly 12,000 printed chart pages.
• Alaska Airlines estimates that deploying iPads as EFBs across its fleet saves approximately 400,000 pages of paper printing per year.
• The Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck and ForeFlight Mobile applications are among the most widely deployed EFB charting platforms at U.S. airlines.
• FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-76D (2017) and its updates define the regulatory framework for EFB approval, including safety risk management requirements for Class 1 and 2 devices.
• EFB performance calculation modules must be validated to produce results equivalent to approved paper charts; carriers submit the software for FAA engineering analysis before receiving operational approval.

Related Concepts

Flight Management System, Aeronautical Chart, AIRAC, Aircraft Performance, Weight and Balance, Operations Specifications