Single Pilot Operations and Public Acceptance: A Mixed Methods Study conducted in Greece

The airline industry is moving towards Single Pilot Operations (SPO), as a result of the increased training and salary cost of pilots, and also as a remedy to the impending pilot shortage which is estimated to manifest itself in the years to follow. The main objective of this study was to explore whether the Greek public is willing to accept only one pilot onboard, what are the factors that affect this decision, and which is the preferred method of replacing the second pilot by choosing between an array of alternative options proposed by the industry. Based on the qualitative findings of previous research, a close-ended scale was developed to explore the attitudes of the public quantitatively (N=414) through exploratory factor analysis and inferential statistics. Results showed a fairly negative attitude of the public towards SPO (mean score of 3.61 on a differential scale of 1-7). Also, the result of the exploratory factor analysis included three factors, namely, the inherent concerns of the passengers, the degree of passenger’s safety awareness and the reputation of the airline company. Lastly, the participants of this study showed a preference for combining highly-sophisticated technology such as advanced automation with a permanent ground operator as the optimum solution to replacing the second pilot. It is recommended that an integrated marketing strategy should be implemented at this time, so as to facilitate a smoother transition to SPO. This strategy should take into serious consideration the factors that affect the public’s intention to accept SPO. Finally, despite the overall conservative attitude of the passengers, there was no evidence of an impending failure of this innovation to diffuse into the market

Factors Affecting Passengers’ Acceptance of Single Pilot Operations: A Qualitative Study conducted in Greece

Single Pilot Operations (SPO) have drawn significant attention during the last years, as a result of the increased dual flight crew expenses, and as a remedy to the impending pilot shortage which is estimated to manifest itself in the following years. The main objective of this study was to explore the factors that influence the Greek passengers’ acceptance of SPO. To that end, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed through Thematic Analysis by combining both a priori and inductive coding procedures. Qualitative findings of this process revealed seven factors influencing passengers’ intention to accept and fly with a SPO aircraft. The three predominant factors were the reputation of the airline company, the degree of passengers’ knowledge regarding SPO safety, and the track record of successful SPO over time. Furthermore, four additional factors were found to influence passengers’ intention such as the urgency to travel, the price of the SPO tickets, the social pressure, and the duration of the flight. By drawing on the current study’s findings, specific recommendations are proposed in the case of SPO implementation, especially from the industry’s perspective. Finally, it is advised for any future SPO marketing strategy to take into consideration such factors that can eventually result in a smoother transition to single-piloted flights

Modelling Automation–Human Driver Handovers Using Operator Event Sequence Diagrams

This research aims to show the effectiveness of Operator Event Sequence Diagrams (OESDs) in the normative modelling of vehicle automation to human drivers’ handovers and validate the models with observations from a study in a driving simulator. The handover of control from automation to human operators has proved problematic, and in the most extreme circumstances catastrophic. This is currently a topic of much concern in the design of automated vehicles. OESDs were used to inform the design of the interaction, which was then tested in a driving simulator. This test provided, for the first time, the opportunity to validate OESDs with data gathered from videoing the handover processes. The findings show that the normative predictions of driver activity determined during the handover from vehicle automation in a driving simulator performed well, and similar to other Human Factors methods. It is concluded that OESDs provided a useful method for the human-centred automation design and, as the predictive validity shows, can continue to be used with some confidence. The research in this paper has shown that OESDs can be used to anticipate normative behaviour of drivers engaged in handover activities with vehicle automation in a driving simulator. Therefore, OESDs offer a useful modelling tool for the Human Factors profession and could be applied to a wide range of applications and domains.</jats:p

Aeronautical Engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 207)

This bibliography lists 484 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in November 1986

Development of a Team Human Reliability Tool (ROCCI)

Human Reliability Assessments (HRA) have been developed so designers and users can understand how likely it is for a human to make an error when using a product or system in the workplace. This is called the reliability of the product. Approximately twenty-six techniques exist to assess the reliability of an individual human in a process. However, often a team of people interact within a system and not just one individual on their own. Hence a new generation of HRAs is needed to assess the effects of teamwork on reliability. This EPSRC CASE studentship, supported by BAE systems, develops a prototype, which enables a designer to quantify and answer to the question: “If I allocate this team to execute that task in System X, how likely is it that they will succeed?” This prototype assumes that a process can be defined in the form of a flow diagram and that roles can be allocated to execute it. Then, using one of those twenty-six techniques, individual reliabilities can be calculated. These are then modulated, by considering how the team interaction affects the three core elements of Trust, Communication and Decision Making Power Distance. This creates an ‘interactive reliability’ factor for each individual in the team. These individual reliability factors are combined according to the team architecture for the process in order to determine the overall team reliability factor. The methods of development include: stakeholder interviews; the evolution of requirements specification; sensitivity analysis; and a stakeholder review of the tool. The information from these analyses produced a model about team interaction and the requirements for the new tool together with statements and algorithms that need to be used in the new tool: ROCCI. This technique is useful for use in the early stages of the design process. The successful prototype can be extended into applications for operations and used to assess and adapt products and systems, which involve teams

Influences on aircraft target off-block time prediction accuracy

With Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) as a generic concept of working together of all airport partners, the main aim of this research project was to increase the understanding of the Influences on the Target Off-Block Time (TOBT) Prediction Accuracy during A-CDM. Predicting the TOBT accurately is important, because all airport partners use it as a reference time for the departure of the flights after the aircraft turn-round. Understanding such influencing factors is therefore not only required for finding measures to counteract inaccurate TOBT predictions, but also for establishing a more efficient A-CDM turn-round process. The research method chosen comprises a number of steps. Firstly, within the framework of a Cognitive Work Analysis, the sub-processes as well as the information requirements during turn-round were analysed. Secondly, a survey approach aimed at finding and describing situations during turn-round that are critical for TOBT adherence was pursued. The problems identified here were then investigated in field observations at different airlines’ operation control rooms. Based on the findings from these previous steps, small-scale human-in-the-loop experiments were designed aimed at testing hypotheses about data/information availability that influence TOBT predictability. A turn-round monitoring tool was developed for the experiments. As a result of this project, the critical chain of turn-round events and the decisions necessary during all stages of the turn-round were identified. It was concluded that information required but not shared among participants can result in TOBT inaccuracy swings. In addition, TOBT predictability was shown to depend on the location of the TOBT turn-round controller who assigns the TOBT: More reliable TOBT predictions were observed when the turn-round controller was physically present at the aircraft. During the experiments, TOBT prediction could be improved by eight minutes, if available information was cooperatively shared ten minutes prior turn-round start between air crews and turn-round controller; TOBT prediction could be improved by 15 minutes, if additional information was provided by ramp agents five minutes after turnround start

An approach to goal directed information management on the flight deck

Today’s flight decks are the result of an evolutionary development process. With every design step the level of automation and amount of available information increased. Considerable challenges in relation to information management are documented. Looking into the future, the introduction of Reduced Crew Operation (RCO) may aggravate these challenges. Removing the second pilot will remove cognitive capacity, which is a central factor for today’s information management. The increasingly relevant question of how to properly manage information on the flight deck in the future is evaluated in this thesis. A development process based on the “Ergonomics of Human System Interaction” standard is pursued to answer this question. Challenges related to information management and existing efforts in this domain are identified. Based on a context analysis of future operations a new concept of operations centered on the human operator on the flight deck is developed. Mission manager is established as a new job title for pilots. Requirements towards information management on the future flight deck are derived. An information management concept for a human operator interacting with a highly automated aircraft is proposed. Goal oriented Information Management (GoIM) is developed to describe this interaction. The implementation of the concept of operations and GoIM in hard- and software is described. Hypotheses towards the parameters of effectivity, efficiency, and satisfaction of usability are formulated. An overall beneficial rating of usability is hypothesized. Evaluation of the concept is performed using a purpose-built RCO research simulator. Users are tasked to perform a two-part evaluation study, consisting of an application usability test and a scenario-based evaluation, utilizing the software implementation. It is shown with a 95% confidence level, that the GoIM concept offers acceptable usability. Backed by positive user feedback GoIM is shown to be a potential solution for future information management on the flight deck. Recommendations towards the further development of the herein proposed concept are given. A closer user interaction and more focused design work is advised. Further broadening the concept and performance-based evaluation and validation is recommended

Developing a framework for Total Apron Safety Management

The Air Traffic Management (ATM) system is a complex socio-technical system that ensures safe, efficient and cost-effective air traffic movements on the ground and in the air. The current ATM system is saturated as a result of an everlasting growth in air travel demand, leading to delays and potential negative safety impacts. In order to meet future demand, current ATM modernisation initiatives in the European Union and the USA are developing a new concept of operations based on strategic holistic system optimisation. On the airport surface, this is achieved by optimising operations not only during the take-off, landing and taxiing phases, but also during the turnaround process on the apron. This requires the boundary of the ATM system to expand to include new elements, namely the apron. A key deficiency in current initiatives is that, while they focus on capacity, punctuality and cost-effectiveness of the apron, they do not address safety. This has potential negative impacts in terms of setting and prioritising safety targets. Unlike the rest of the aviation domain, which is aircraft-centric, the concept of apron safety is much wider and in addition to aircraft safety, it also includes occupational health and safety. Recent aviation safety statistics show that aircraft accidents attributed to ground handling operations are six times more frequent than those attributed to the ATM. Additionally, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics show worse safety records on the apron when compared to the construction and agricultural industries. Considering the change in the ATM system boundary and the low aviation and occupational health and safety records, the airport apron has been identified in this thesis as a new safety-critical area of the future ATM system. Therefore, a key focus of this thesis is to address current deficiencies with respect to safety management on the apron, by developing a better understanding of the processes carried out on the apron and a new framework for safety assessment, as well as recommending enhancements to existing safety management practices. In contrast to existing safety management practices that are based on a dated understanding of safety (referred to as Safety-I), which is predominantly reactive, the framework proposed in this thesis, for the first time, adopts a state-of-the-art proactive and predictive understanding of safety (referred to as Safety-II) for the apron. The thesis demonstrates for the first time that the existing linear component-based models traditionally used for modelling apron safety do not account for the system complexity. Therefore, the proposed framework develops a state-of-the-art systemic functional Total Apron Safety Management (TASM) model and a corresponding taxonomy of factors that characterise different sources of variability of ground handling services, capable of accounting for dependencies and dynamic interactions between different layers of the apron system (i.e. technological, human and organisational). The proposed functional model and taxonomy have been applied to three case studies in retrospective, prospective and system design analysis demonstrating the multi-purposive nature of the framework, particularly important under existing financial pressures. In retrospective analysis the proposed functional model and taxonomy have shown to identify systemic factors previously not found during the occurrence investigation. In prospective analysis, a new protocol for systemic and systematic hazard analysis in complex socio-technical systems (including the apron) was developed. Furthermore, a novel conceptual framework for a safety trend analysis based on the TASM framework was developed, offering a quick, simple, cost-effective analysis of large datasets. A key advantage of the TASM framework is that it is transferable to all ground handling services carried out by Ground Service Providers (GSP), airlines and/or airports.Open Acces