Advanced air mobility (AAM), of which urban air mobility (UAM) is a subset, signifies an exciting and advanced mode of air transportation that combines novel aircraft configurations with progressive levels of automation to offer convenient and efficient modes of air transportation (Mitchell, 2021). The design of these innovative aircraft will utilize advanced autonomous systems and are proposed to minimize pilot training requirements and scale operations (Mathur, et al., 2019; Feary, 2018). Further, the operational context of AAM will be characterized by low-altitude flights, single pilot operations, unique weather phenomena such as mechanical turbulence, and novel propulsion systems. Early phases of AAM will involve manned flights (FAA, 2020) and as the industry plans for a new era of AAM pilots, there are several considerations for development of training procedures that have distinct differences from traditional aviation contexts. For example, the aircraft being proposed utilize higher levels of automation than current commercial aircraft. While it is being suggested that this will decrease the amount of training required, pilots will need to develop an understanding of the automation functions, which will impact training requirements. Further, the aircraft being proposed have novel technology such as battery-powered propulsion systems. This change from fuel management to battery power management will have implications for training. There will also be changes to various aspects of operations, such as extremely repetitive, short-haul flights, within single-pilot operations with changes to communication with air traffic control. In this paper we will examine key differences between proposed AAM and traditional aviation contexts that have implications for training related to four key areas: (a) automation, (b) the pilot interface, (3) operations, and (4) pilot characteristics. We will highlight key differences between these two aviation contexts, identify implications for how these changes may impact training, and provide considerations for future training development.
Keywords
AUTOMATION, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, HUMAN FACTORS, TRAINING
Additional Keywords
UAM, AAM