Advances in Human Aspects of Aviation

Since the very earliest years of aviation, it was clear that human factors were critical to the success and safety of the system. As aviation has matured, the system has become extremely complex. Bringing together the most recent human factors work in the aviation domain, Advances in Human Aspects of Aviation covers the design of aircrafts for the comfort and well being of the passenger.

The book discusses strategies and guidelines for maximizing comfort, the design of aircrafts including cockpit design, and the training and work schedules for flight attendants and pilots. It is becoming increasingly important to view problems not as isolated issues that can be extracted from the system environment, but as embedded issues that can only be understood as a part of an overall system. In keeping with a system that is vast in its scope and reach, the chapters in this book cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Interface and operations issues from the perspectives of pilots and air traffic controllers, respectively.
• Specific human performance issues, studied from within the context of the air transportation system
• Issues related to automation and the delineation of function between automation and human within the current and future system
• The U.S. air traffic modernization effort, called NextGen
• Diverse modeling perspectives and methods
• Safety and ethics as driving factors for change
• Cognition and work overload
• Empirical research and evaluation of the air transportation domain

As air traffic modernization efforts begin to vastly increase the capacity of the system, the issues facing engineers, scientists, and other practitioners of human factors are becoming more challenging and more critical. Reflecting road themes and trends in this field, the book documents the latest research in this area.