Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] will install the industry-standard Boeing Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) on six 737-800 airplanes to be delivered to EgyptAir beginning in July 2006. EgyptAir will use the fully integrated Class 3 EFB to gain higher levels of safety, security and efficiency and as a bridge into the e-Enabled air transport environment.

"We selected the 737-800 because of its high degree of reliability and ruggedness," said Engineer Atef Abd El-Hamid, chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company. "Adding the Boeing EFB to this airplane will make it even more reliable and efficient, and will let us take even more advantage of Boeing's advanced technology."

EFB is a core technology of Boeing's vision of an e-Enabled air transport system, where data, information and knowledge can be shared instantly across the air-transport enterprise. Using software developed by Boeing and its subsidiary Jeppesen, and hardware from Astronautics Corp. of America (ACA), the Boeing EFB digitizes vital charts and manuals that pilots need to fly an airplane, giving them the information they need instantly.

An instant performance calculator gives pilots the ideal speeds and engine setting for an aircraft, in any weather, on any runway, with any payload, creating vast gains in efficiency, range and payload.

Jeppesen's award-winning Airplane Moving Map - available only on Class 3 EFBs -- enhances runway situational awareness by integrating geo-referencing technology with Jeppesen airport taxi charts to show flight crews exactly where they are on the tarmac. The EFB even gives flight crews a viewer for cabin surveillance systems, helping them meet enhanced security recommendations of recent months.

With 80 Gigabytes of available memory, the Boeing EFB provides plenty of room for new applications as well, such as enhanced fault reporting; enhanced electronic checklists; real-time weather information; and real-time Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) information. In addition, the open-architecture design of the Class 3 EFB and its integration into the airplane's larger systems give it unmatched potential for Boeing, airlines and even third-party software designers to create even more exciting applications.