With automation at the forefront of all transportation services, it’s no surprise that many of the most significant changes in aircraft technology are in the world of automation.
While we aren’t likely to see AI pilots in the near future, there are many ways in which automation is being integrated to make flying faster, safer, and smoother.
Let’s examine a few of the ways in which automated changes are likely to impact aircraft in the near future.
Automation at the Forefront of New Cessna Citation Business Jets
Announced in October 2024, the Cessna Citation Business Jets are ushering in a new era of private jet services. Each model will be equipped with the latest Garmin® Emergency Autoland technology.
This is ensured to automatically engage if the pilot becomes inactive for too long as it continually checks for pilot responsiveness. Once triggered, the automated system will stabilize the aircraft, evaluate its position, and communicate with Air Traffic Control.
Everything from announcing the aircraft status to passengers to a controlled, automated landing will be controlled by Garmin® Emergency Autoland.
The first of these three private jets will be in service as early as 2026, and the other models are scheduled for release in 2027.
AI Co-Pilots Could Come Sooner Than You Think
So long as humans are passengers, we will always have at least one human pilot in charge of a commercial aircraft. However, as airlines compete to save money and increase passenger safety, many senior figures are considering an AI co-pilot.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), they have engineered one of the world’s first AI co-pilots. Their “Air-Guardian” is an AI-driven system designed to enhance aviation safety by acting as a co-pilot, combining human intuition with machine precision.
Using eye-tracking and neural network technologies, it monitors where pilots focus their attention and intervenes when potential risks arise.
According to Lianhao Yin, a lead author on a new paper about the technology, “The Air-Guardian system isn’t rigid; it can be adjusted based on the situation’s demands, ensuring a balanced partnership between human and machine.”
One paper on the new system also considered that AI-human collaboration could reduce errors in challenging flight scenarios, offering new possibilities for human-centric AI in aviation.
To reiterate, AI will not soon replace human pilots but could step in wherever human error occurs, making for a safer flight experience for all.
The Role of Automation in Aircraft Sustainability
It’s no secret that sustainability is at the heart of the future of aviation. Air travel currently contributes around 2.5% of total global emissions, which must decrease to maintain the viability of commercial travel.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plays a vital role in this by using renewable resources or waste feedstocks to fuel aircraft, but there are already challenges arising with both cost and availability.
Instead, we are beginning to see AI intervene through data analysis. It can assess efficiency improvements by analyzing crop yields and optimizing feedstocks.
Other use cases of AI improving aircraft sustainability include improving flight paths based on fuel efficiency. Most pilots follow a predetermined flight path, but there are opportunities to adapt to a flight path due to things like adverse weather, saving time, or saving fuel.
If AI is constantly scanning for shortcuts (Directs), it can pick up on opportunities to save fuel that the pilot could miss, thus saving fuel. This technology already exists.
SkyBreathe® On Board Direct Assistant can provide shortcut recommendations to pilots at the right time without troubling the flight operator with tons of data to analyze alone. This can reduce fuel burn on each flight by around 2-5%.
AI Could Make Contrails a Thing of the Past
Contrails, often erroneously referred to as chemtrails, significantly contribute to aviation’s global warming impact, accounting for 35% of it. This is more than half the effect of jet fuel.
Their formation depends on specific atmospheric conditions like temperature and humidity, making only a few flights responsible for most contrail-induced warming. Using weather, satellite, and flight data, AI can predict where contrails will form, allowing flights to adjust altitudes to avoid them.
A collaboration with Google, American Airlines, and Breakthrough Energy tested an AI-based solution to the impact of global warming caused by contrails.
A group of pilots at American flew 70 test flights using Google’s AI-based predictions, cross-referenced with Breakthrough Energy’s open-source contrail models, to avoid altitudes likely to create contrails. The result was a 54% reduction in contrail formation.
Successfully implementing this AI technology on aircraft could reduce contrails considerably.
The Sky’s The Limit with Automation
This is an exciting time for collaboration between the worlds of automation and aerospace. Very soon, we’re likely to see an increase in efficiency and safety while witnessing a considerable reduction in global emissions through successful intervention and collaboration with artificial intelligence.
