Opportunities for rapid integration of human factors in developing a free flight capability

Free flight concepts call for integrating advanced avionics and ground automation into new operational procedures. The concepts unavoidably raise human factors issues. Significant opportunities exist for leveraging applicable human performance data and principles from past research on avionics, automation, and system design to inform decisions and trade-offs at the front end of free flight development. Examples in this paper show how past research results can expedite the implementation of free flight by giving partial answers to newly raised issues and aiding the efficient resolution of remaining questions.