Don’t be alarmed if the cabin attendants on your next flight seem to be spending a lot of time looking at their personal electronic devices.

They’re not checking Facebook, watching the latest cute cat video on YouTube or posting to Instagram or Twitter about the antics of the jerk in Row 12.

More likely they’re using their airline-issued digital devices to determine which passengers will have tight – or impossible – connections, who’s having a birthday and who is entitled to a complimentary drink.

In the same way mobile technology has lightened the loads of pilots by replacing pounds of paper charts and manuals with programmed iPads, apps on mobile devices that can conduct sales and access passenger information are changing the way flight attendants work in and out of the cabin – and helping airlines improve their bottom line.

Read more about how new tech devices for flight attendants are helping to upgrade passenger services in a story I wrote for Fortune.

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