LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2022-11-21
Flightpath management should remain with the pilots at all times, not the automation: US regulator's 2022 guidance to airlines, noting pilots now fly by hand only briefly
Airline pilotoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2022-11-21
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Working the automation
Programming the flight management system, choosing which level of automation to use, watching what it does, and deciding when it is doing something you did not ask for.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
An advisory circular from the US Federal Aviation Administration to airline and charter operators and pilot training centres. It says each pilot is responsible for being fully capable of manually flying the aircraft; that policies focused only on automation can misplace the responsibility for flightpath management onto the automation system, whereas it should remain with the pilots at all times; that operational data show pilots, on average, exercise manual flight control for only a small portion of total flight time, usually only during take-off and landing; and that manual flying proficiency is necessary regardless of the autoflight equipment installed. It is guidance: it uses 'should' and states that it does not have the force and effect of law.
What this means
As automation flies more of each trip, the regulator's answer is to keep the responsibility with the pilots and push operators to keep their hands-on skill alive. Working the automation is framed as supervising a tool the pilot answers for, not handing the job over.
What it does not yet show
Guidance, not law; it does not measure how many minutes are hand-flown or how operators actually changed their policies.
What you can check
Open FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-123 and find "whereas it should remain with the pilots at all times".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. Nor did this record change a layer: all 1 linked judgement above already rested on earlier evidence. This one adds to them.
Source
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration — Advisory Circular AC 120-123, Flightpath Management (dated 11/21/22) · verified 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.