As pilots come and go from an organisation, the organisation needs a reliable mechanism to grant and revoke access to their group subscriptions. The following paragraphs provide guidance on how to manage individual pilots access in a group subscription environment.
Group Subscription Access Models
The following access models can be used by an organisation to control access to their group subscriptions. The mechanism used should be chosen on the basis of how it matches existing organisational processes for device and software management.
- Organisational controlled device provisioning
- Controlled organisational usernames
- Pilots personal AvPlan EFB username
Organisational Controlled Device Provisioning
Tablet devices are provisioned by the organisation and either provided to pilots or assigned to specific aircraft. In this instance the device is the property of the organisation and configured using organisation specific AvPlan EFB usernames. For example, the airline XYZ may have a 10 pilot group subscription and a pool of usernames efb1@xyz.com.au through to efb10@xyz.com.au. The XYZ devices are configured using the specified AvPlan EFB usernames and provided to the XYZ pilots.
The advantage of this method is that when a pilot leaves the organisation the device(s) are handed back and can be re-issued to the replacement pilot(s). However, this does require that the organisation has a designated role of EFB administrator. The EFB administrator in this instance is responsible for configuring the devices, tracking their location and keeping track of group subscription use.
Controlled Organisational Usernames
In cases where pilots provide their own devices, the organisation provides an AvPlan EFB username that enables access to the organisational group subscriptions. As in the previous access model an EFB Administrator is required to manage the organisational usernames. A pool of standard usernames or pilot specific usernames can be created for each pilot joining the organisation. For example, pilot John Smith joins the airline XYZ. The EFB administrator creates the user john.smith@xyz.com.au and adds the username to the organisations group subscription group.
The advantage of this method is that the organisation is not providing the devices – just the usernames. In this case it is incumbent on the pilot to remove the pooled username from their devices when they leave. However, the administrator could change the password on the usernames provided to the pilot or remove the username from the group subscription in order to revoke access.
Pilots Personal AvPlan EFB Username
Pilots provide their own device(s) or use the organisations devices with their own AvPlan EFB username. In this instance the EFB Administrator adds the pilots own AvPlan EFB username to the organisations group subscription group. Once entered, the pilots username inherits the group subscriptions in addition to their own private subscriptions (if any).
The EFB Administrator in this instance may only be concerned with adding and removing pilot usernames from the group subscription group as pilots come and go from the organisation.