Aviation Human Factors

Safe aviation operations aren’t just about building better planes or even better control towers. Human performance is a key factor in the success of modern aviation projects.

With more and more flights each year and ever-increasing safety standards, aviation project managers need to get to grips with new technologies and working practices.

Since 2007, we’ve dealt with many human factors projects for aviation, and these are the most common issues:

• Capacity – addressing bottlenecks and balancing these against long-term human performance factors.

Increasing airspace or airport capacity is a key objective in the aviation industry, often achieved through operational initiatives and procedure changes. However, these efforts must also take into account human abilities to ensure success. While addressing bottlenecks and removing obstacles to increase capacity, it is important to balance these considerations with long-term human performance factors. For example, changes made to increase capacity should not lead to increased workload for operators or compromise situation awareness, leading to fatigue and decreased performance. Human factors engineers can assist by optimising equipment and procedures to reduce delays and improve productivity, while ensuring that human performance factors such as workload and situation awareness are not compromised. By balancing capacity needs with human factors principles, aviation human factors engineers can help to improve both system performance and safety performance.

• Technology – managing technology rollouts while dealing with associated considerations such as team working, communication, and workload.

Technology is a vital aspect of modern aviation, and technological advancements have played a significant role in enhancing safety, efficiency, and productivity. However, the introduction of new technologies must be managed carefully to avoid any negative impact on the human element. When rolling out new technology in the aviation industry, it’s essential to consider associated considerations, such as teamwork, communication, and workload. These factors can impact how effectively the technology is used, and ultimately, the safety and efficiency of the aviation system. Human factors engineers can assist in managing the deployment of systems by identifying potential human factors issues, such as inadequate training, human error, poor communication, inefficient workplaces, or excessive workload.

• Customer Experience – understanding passenger needs and expectations to drive satisfaction and loyalty

The aviation industry relies heavily on passenger satisfaction and loyalty to remain competitive, yet passengers often experience frustration and stress during their travel. Airlines and airports need to find ways to improve the customer experience to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Human factors engineering provides a solution to this problem by providing recommendations that account for the needs, abilities, and limitations of passengers. From an airline point of view, human factors technical knowledge can help airlines understand passenger needs and expectations and design solutions to meet those needs. From an airport point of view, the study of human factors can help airports design efficient layouts that reduce passenger stress and improve the overall customer experience. This can include optimising passenger flow, providing clear signage and wayfinding systems, and designing waiting areas that are comfortable and accommodating.

• Automation – balancing the benefits and challenges of increased automation in aviation

The increased use of automation within the aerospace industry has brought many benefits, such as improved safety, efficiency, and productivity. However, it also poses challenges for flight operations that must be addressed to maintain high levels of performance and safety. One significant challenge is the potential for reduced situation awareness and overreliance on automation, leading to performance degradation when systems fail or when operators are required to assume manual control. In addition, automation can lead to complacency and reduced cognitive workload, which can impact performance in critical situations. It’s essential to consider human factors science in the design and implementation of automation to ensure that operators have the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources to use automation effectively and safely. The field of Human Factors can assist in this process by identifying potential list of human factors issues and developing strategies to mitigate them, such as providing adequate training, improving communication, and implementing workload and error management strategies. The successful application of human factor principles helps aviation organisations to achieve greater efficiency and safety while maintaining the critical role of flight crew, ATCOs, cabin crews, mechanics, and maintenance personnel in safe operations.

All of these challenges can have an impact on business if not planned for and handled properly. The results could mean your projects are grounded – and we don’t want to see that.