In-flight computing device for aircraft cabin crew

A computerized method for cabin crew on board an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving at a portable computing device on board the aircraft, flight related information from a remote server, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft to retrieve information related to a flight to be made by the aircraft and to store the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device in-flight and including seating information and other passenger related information;
• storing the received flight related information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• inputting flight related information into the local database of the portable computing device during the flight in response to events occurring during the flight, the information input including data related to faults identified by cabin crew;
• storing the input fault data;
• and
• exchanging information directly with the server via a WiFi connection during the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information including the fault data from the portable communications device to the server.

A portable computing device for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft, the device configured to:

• receive on board an aircraft during a flight, flight related information from a remote server, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of external systems to retrieve information related to the flight to be made by the aircraft and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information and other passenger related information;
• store the received flight related information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• receive inputs of flight related information into the local database of the portable computing device during the flight in response to events occurring during the flight, the inputs including data related to faults identified by cabin crew;
• store the input fault data;
• and
• exchange information directly with the server via a WiFi connection during the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information including the fault data from the portable communications device to the server,
• wherein the plurality of external systems are external to the aircraft.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, the computer program including instructions for causing a portable computing device to:

• receive on board an aircraft during a flight, flight related information from a remote server, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of external systems, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of external systems to retrieve information related to the flight to be made by the aircraft and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information and other passenger related information;
• store the received flight related information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• receive inputs of flight related information into the database of the portable computing device during the flight in response to events occurring during the flight, including data related to faults identified by cabin crew;
• store the input fault data at the local database of the portable computing device;
• and
• exchange information directly with the server via a WiFi connection during the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information including the fault data from the portable communications device to the server,
• wherein the plurality of external systems are external to the server and external to the aircraft.

A system for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft, comprising:

• at a location remote from the aircraft, a server including a database, the server selectively communicating with a plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft to retrieve information related to a flight to be made by the aircraft, the external systems including a baggage system, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server, the server storing flight related information including passenger related baggage status information;
• and
• a portable computing device on board the aircraft, the portable computing device having a local database of the portable computing device for receipt and storage of flight related information received from the server during the flight, wherein at least a portion of the received flight related information originates from the external systems, the flight related information including seating information the passenger related baggage status information and other passenger related information, the portable device running an application for real-time communication with the server during the flight via a WiFi connection for a two-way exchange between the server and the portable computing device of the passenger related baggage status information and at least one of seating and passenger related information during the flight.

A computerized method for cabin crew on board an aircraft, comprising:

• receiving at a portable computing device on board the aircraft during a flight, flight related information from a remote server, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft to retrieve information related to the flight to be made by the aircraft and to store the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the external systems including a baggage system, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information, passenger related baggage status information, and other passenger related information;
• storing the received flight related information including passenger related baggage status information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• inputting flight related information into the local database of the portable computing device during a flight in response to events occurring during the flight;
• and
• exchanging information directly with the server via a WiFi connection during the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information including the passenger related baggage status information between the portable communications device and the server.

A portable computing device for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft, the device configured to:

• receive on board an aircraft during a flight, flight related information from a remote server, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of external systems, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of external systems to retrieve information related to the flight to be made by the aircraft and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the external systems including a baggage system, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including, passenger related baggage status information, seating information and other passenger related information;
• store the received flight related information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• receive inputs of flight related information into the local database of the portable computing device during the flight in response to events occurring during the flight;
• and
• exchange information directly with the server during the flight via a WiFi connection to transmit the inputted flight related information including passenger related baggage status information between the portable communications device and the server,
• wherein the plurality of external systems are external to the server and external to the aircraft.

A portable computing device for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft, the device configured to:

• receive on board an aircraft during a flight, flight related information from a remote server in a JSON format, wherein at least a portion of the flight related information originates from a plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with the plurality of systems external to the server and external to the aircraft, to retrieve information related to the flight to be made by the aircraft, the information including a passenger name list for the flight, and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information, frequent flyer profile information, a delayed baggage report and associated passenger information, the device being configured to receive inputs of passenger contact data and/or baggage identification data into the portable computing device and to send the data to the server;
• store the received flight related information at a local database of the portable computing device;
• receive inputs of flight related information into the local database of the portable computing device during the flight in response to events occurring during the flight, the inputs including data related to faults identified by cabin crew;
• store the input fault data;
• and
• exchange information directly with the server via a WiFi connection during the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information including the fault data from the portable communications device to the server.