The automated cockpit: A comparison of attitudes towards human and automated pilots

Automation is being used extensively in aviation, particularly in the aircrafts themselves. The airline industry benefits from automation because it often increases efficiency and performance. To date, automation research has focused largely on operator trust and reliance, while largely ignoring the role of affect and trust in shaping the attitudes of the novice consumer. In two studies, we found that participants rated a human pilot more favorably than an auto-pilot. However, attitudes toward the automated pilot were more favorable in a high priced compared to a low priced ticket condition, indicating that participants used price to infer quality. In Study 2, inducing positive affect increased ratings of an automated pilot. Path analyses provided additional evidence that perceptions of automation are largely influenced by feelings.