Testing Boeing's Flight Deck of the Future: A Comparison between Current and Prototype Autoflight Panels

Abstract

Operational issues with the current generation of flight control panels in modern airliners are well documented, and include opaque operating modes, limited feedback when modifying settings, and inconsistent interactions that can result in unexpected aircraft behaviors, leading to costly training programs. Boeing engineers have proposed a redesigned panel known as the Flight Deck of the Future (FDF), in an attempt to address these issues. In the first experimental test of this new interface, we studied the effects of the redesign on transfer of initial training. Tasks known to present challenges in the current generation of aircraft were selected for training and testing. Airline pilots were asked to perform these tasks on both the FDF panel, and the corresponding panel on a typical large commercial aircraft. Training transfer was found to be substantially improved on the FDF system. Implications for continued design, adoption, and airline training of the new interface are discussed.