iPads for the Cabin Crew? Surely You Can’t Be Serious.

Add British Airways to the list of airlines putting iPads in crew members’ flight bags.

The U.K. carrier recently began a pilot program that will see some cabin crew members using the tablets to improve in-flight service and replace the paper clutter of the passenger manifests, seating charts and flight timetables they typically carry.

BA will initially outfit just 100 crew members with iPads. But if that initial deployment is successful, it plans to give them to 1,800 more in the coming months. And according to Bill Francis, British Airways’s head of in-flight customer experience, the airline is very pleased with the results of the program so far. “The iPad is already allowing us to offer a more personalized onboard service, but the possibilities for future development are endless,” he said. “We’re receiving great feedback from cabin crew and customers already.”

BA is the latest in a parade of airlines deploying iPads for use in flight operations. Last week, United Airlines announced plans to distribute iPads to some 11,000 pilots.