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The Electronic Flight Bag, or EFB, on iPad is critical to commercial pilots. The EFB is their go-to source for the aviation data they need for their jobs.

Large airlines have tens of thousands of EFBs, and managing them is a complex and challenging task.

When it was time for a long-time Stratix customer to refresh its EFBs company-wide, we started planning six months in advance.

The project required replacing 20,000 iPad devices across 50 states and 13 countries in 35 days. That’s over five hundred a day, and they had to be delivered to individual pilots’ homes.

To make it as easy as possible for the pilots, Stratix built a custom portal. It gave them an e-commerce-like experience.

One place to choose devices and peripherals, and arrange for shipping that aligned with their schedules.

Pilots also got the option to buy their old iPad for below the retail value.

To drive pilot engagement, there was early communication, training materials, and step-by-step guides.

 So what happened?

Seventy-seven percent of pilots opted to buy their old devices—generating 20 percent more revenue than what was needed to pay off the leases—plus there was the savings and environmental benefit of not shipping them back.

During the deployment, Stratix kitted and configured every device before shipment with 99.8 percent accuracy—while hitting every timeline goal.

The airline reported very high pilot satisfaction, with only 80 needing follow-ups out of 20,000 pilots.

The airline’s vice president of flight ops said it was the cleanest and quietest device refresh in the company’s history.