The Cockpit of the Future

While augmented reality and slick touchscreens are now everywhere in consumer electronics, airline pilots still spend their hours staring at minimalist, outdated graphics. But slowly, the aviation industry is starting to catch up to the information revolution.


Not all cockpits are created equal. A contemporary Primary Flight Display screen from an airliner (above, left) lacks the terrain details and runway centerline extensions of the synthetic vision systems found in high-end business jets (above, right). Slowly changing federal regulations make it hard for carriers to keep up with emerging technologies—even those that would make flying safer and easier.

As the Falcon 900 business jet emerges through a layer of clouds at 25,000 feet, pilot Sandy Wyatt points at a monitor. "This is what commercial airline pilots see," he says, referring to the flat screen's simplistic representation of the airplane's position: The sky is blue, the land is brown, and the horizon line tilts when the airplane does.

"This is what business-jet pilots can see," says Wyatt, Honeywell Aerospace's chief test pilot, gesturing at the screen and toggling to a new flight display. "This is synthetic vision." The image changes: It's the same horizon line, but the ground is rendered in vivid 3D. The hills, rivers, and power lines outside Morristown, N.J., roll past as if the canopy of clouds were not obscuring the view. The image is a fusion of GPS, altitude, and airspeed data.

Synthetic vision systems are found only in high-end business jets like the Falcon 900. SVS could offer advantages for commercial airliners, enabling pilots to see obstacles from miles away during takeoff or landing emergencies.

But there's a catch: The Federal Aviation Administration is slow to approve new avionics and even slower to change the rules that govern how pilots fly. These delays cause airlines to shy away from adopting cockpit enhancements, including synthetic vision and satellite-based air traffic control, that could make air travel more convenient and safer.

Business-jet makers can commit to the time-consuming, costly FAA approval process. For example, Honeywell began its work on SVS in 2002. The FAA certified its use on Gulfstream business jets in 2008. The wait was worth it: Business jets fly to small airports that are located in rough terrain and have less precise landing infrastructure. The additional awareness of what's outside made SVS and business jets a comfortable match.

Airlines can't afford to be patient when it comes to adopting technology across their large fleets. "It's a business issue more than a tech issue," says Bob Witwer, VP of Advanced Technology at Honeywell. "A major air transport manufacturer said, 'We like your tech, but we're selling airplanes to customers who are battling to keep their bottom line healthy. How are you going to help us fly more passengers?'?"

The avionics industry responded with enhanced vision systems (EVS) that add infrared camera views to SVS images. EVS enables pilots to land when fog or clouds block their view. If installed on commercial airliners, SVS-EVS would save fuel and decrease delays, the kinds of guaranteed return on investment that airlines need to commit to new cockpit technology.

But the FAA must also approve SVS-EVS for each type of airplane that uses it. This takes time, too: FedEx flight-tested MD-10 airplanes for a year to get EVS certification. No cash-strapped carrier wants to install IR cameras in its fleet and then wait for the FAA to approve them—or possibly not. An FAA committee has spent six years evaluating the use of EVS during landings; its final recommendation is due in July.

Business-jet operators and cargo haulers, who see safety benefits even without a new FAA landing rule, are already buying aircraft with FAA-certified SVS-EVS. Meanwhile, airline passengers linger at concourse bars and departure gates, wondering why air travel has to be so unpleasant.


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Vic Kulihin

Vic Kulihin

Taking Advantage of Radar's End

As with synthetic vision, FAA management is also slowing the pace of air traffic control modernization. "A majority of the air traffic procedures were designed around technologies from the 1960s and 1970s," Witwer says. "It is safe, but it's antiquated."

A new system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), coming online in the U.S. by 2020, provides precise GPS data from the airplanes to air traffic controllers. ADS-B enhances efficiency by letting the controllers line up (or "stack") planes near airports.

The aviation industry is clamoring for direct communication between airplanes, not just between the planes and the ground. Collision avoidance systems could allow even tighter stacking. Real-time weather data could help pilots dodge storms. Airplanes could adjust speeds to arrive when planned, easing airport congestion. But the FAA is not mandating plane-to-plane connectivity, though the ADS-B datalinks can be adapted to receive information.

FAA spokesmen say the agency has released some preliminary standards, but experts say that they're not enough. "Those pieces are critical, but there is a lack of commitment to an overall plan," says former FAA adviser Hans Weber. "There are no timetables and no specifications for avionics suppliers to build to." Weber says the FAA has been hobbled by union politics and a Congress that has produced 22 temporary budgets in the past four years.

Until the FAA can figure out a way to streamline its approval processes and get some steady direction from Congress, air travel will remain frustrating. Unless, of course, you fly around in a business jet.

Vic Kulihin

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