Dec. 11--United Airlines flight attendants will be getting iPhone 6 Plus smartphones to use as onboard cash registers and eventually to store their safety manuals, replacing paper ones, the airline said Wednesday.
The airline said it will begin distributing the phones to more than 23,000 flight attendants during the second quarter of 2015.
The devices will handle most onboard retail credit card transactions for food, beverages and seat upgrades and will enable flight attendants to access company e-mail, united.com and the company's Intranet, United said.
Future enhancements include replacing the flight attendants' printed safety manuals with electronic versions on their iPhones and providing real-time reporting and improved follow-up on aircraft cabin issues and repairs, the airline said.
Overall, the airline expects that the phones will allow flight attendants to deliver better service, said Sam Risoli, United's senior vice president of in-flight services.
United did not say what it will pay for the smartphones. At retail prices and unaffiliated with a wireless carrier, the middle-tier model with 64GB of storage sells for $849 or nearly $20 million for 23,000 of them.
Beginning in 2011, the airline issued Apple iPads to pilots in a move toward reducing bulky paper flight manuals. United has renewed the iPad program with the iPad Air 2, it said.
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