Technology is changing aviation in five main ways: tablets called electronic flight bags have replaced paper charts, satellite-based ADS-B broadcasts supplement radar for tracking, fly-by-wire and autoland systems automate more of each flight, AI helps plan maintenance, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is being blended in to cut emissions. Pilots and technicians remain in charge.
Key Takeaways
- Electronic flight bags (EFBs) put all of the world’s aeronautical charts on a device of about 1.4 kg, compared with about 36 kg of paper charts.
- ADS-B lets an aircraft broadcast its satellite-derived position about once per second; the United States has required it for many aircraft since January 2020.
- Automation is not new: the first aircraft certified for Category III automatic landings was the Sud Aviation Caravelle, in December 1968.
- AI in aviation is used mainly for operations and predictive maintenance, plus pilot training in simulators.
- Sustainable aviation fuel made up about 0.3% of global jet fuel use in 2024, while EU rules require 6% by 2030.
Aviation technology is nothing new: powered flight and the instruments that support it have been developing for more than a century. However, aviation technology keeps changing, and many aviation systems are built to stricter reliability standards than everyday consumer electronics. Smartphone technology is a good example: it feels new to many people, yet in several respects it lags behind when it comes to aviation tech.
Technology Changing Aviation in the Future
Portable computers reached the cockpit before smartphones became mainstream: in the early 1990s some FedEx pilots used personal laptops to run aircraft performance calculations. Tablets and smartphones later made this kind of tool far more common. Mobile apps, for example, are transforming every aspect of our lives, including that of aviation.
Today, we will explore further how technology is revolutionizing the process of aviation as we know it. Let’s get started!
Mobile Apps and Aviation
Although it seems the connection between mobile technology and aviation is obscure, tablets running approved apps are now standard cockpit tools, known as electronic flight bags (EFBs). The aircraft’s own certified systems, such as its avionics and autopilot, do not depend on a pilot’s tablet or phone to fly the aircraft.
However, aviation isn’t only about the commercial aspects as it deals with other aspects such as maintenance, standard operating procedures, laws, and training. Aspiring and working pilots train extensively, and much of that training now takes place in flight simulators rather than in real aircraft.
Alongside formal simulator sessions, pilots can also use mobile apps for informal study and practice. They also use these skills to pilot drones both in military and civilian applications.
IoT and Aviation
IoT or the internet of things means connecting sensors and devices to networks so that they can share data automatically. The idea is now built into many existing technologies, from factory machines to aircraft engines. The IoT suits aviation well because a modern aircraft carries many sensors, and the data they produce supports both flight safety and maintenance planning.
Traditionally, flights were tracked mainly by ground radar, while the flight recorders known as black boxes record flight data and cockpit sounds for accident investigators rather than tracking the aircraft live. Today, ADS-B broadcasts based on satellite navigation supplement radar, and aircraft sensors feed data to maintenance teams. There are also trackers that can detect engine damage during maintenance.
Nonetheless, proper maintenance is still the most important of all. Maintenance crews periodically check and replace parts such as the engine mounts, frame, wheel mechanisms and engine components. IoT sensors help monitor the aircraft’s condition, but inspections and repairs are still carried out by maintenance technicians.
High-Tech and Aviation
As of September 2026, AI is used in aviation mainly for operations planning, predictive maintenance and pilot training, while research into more autonomous flight continues. Supporters of more automation give a couple of reasons. The main one is that software is not affected by fatigue or by physical and mental stress, and it can work through weather calculations quickly.
A machine can make calculations on needed weather factors and take into consideration landing procedures under the most extreme conditions in order to keep everyone who is a passenger safe. Some discussions go as far as replacing pilots entirely; however, human pilots remain in the cockpit of passenger flights, partly as a safeguard against errors in an aircraft’s programming or software.
Conclusion
Aviation technology has always been built around the skills of pilots and engineers. Each generation of equipment builds on the one before it. New innovations do not necessarily replace the old ones, but nurture and change them instead. In the case of aviation technology, mobile apps, the internet of things, and high-tech are now a critical part of its evolution. 🙂
Key Aviation Technologies at a Glance
| Technology | What it does | Verified milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic flight bag (EFB) | Replaces paper manuals and charts; runs performance calculations | KLM accepted the first installed EFB on a Boeing 777 in October 2003 |
| ADS-B | Aircraft broadcasts its satellite-derived position, altitude and speed | Required for many aircraft in the United States since January 2020 |
| Fly-by-wire | Computers turn pilot inputs into control-surface movements | Airbus A320 entered service in 1988 as the first mass-produced airliner with digital fly-by-wire |
| Autoland | Lands the aircraft automatically while the crew supervises | Sud Aviation Caravelle certified for Category III on 28 December 1968 |
| Emergency autoland | Lands some small aircraft if the pilot is incapacitated | Garmin’s system received FAA certification in 2020 |
| Flight recorders | Record flight data and cockpit sounds for investigators | Mandatory on US commercial aircraft since 1967 |
| Full flight simulator | Recreates the cockpit and aircraft motion for training | Level D is the highest of four levels (A to D) |
| Sustainable aviation fuel | Lower-carbon fuel blended with conventional jet fuel | 50% biofuel blends allowed on commercial flights from 2011 |
How Do Pilots Use Tablets and Apps in the Cockpit?
An electronic flight bag (EFB) is a device, often a tablet, that gives flight crews the reference material once carried in a paper flight bag, such as the flight crew operating manual and navigational charts. The name comes from the pilot’s traditional document bag, which could weigh 18 kg (40 lb) or more.
All of the world’s aeronautical charts can now fit on a computer of about 1.4 kg (3 lb), compared with about 36 kg (80 lb) of paper. EFB software can also automate tasks once done by hand, such as take-off performance and weight-and-balance calculations.
Airlines moved quickly once tablets matured. After trialing cockpit iPads in 2011, Delta Air Lines announced in August 2013 that it would provide certified EFBs to all of its pilots, planned for completion by May 2014. Under US rule FAR 91.503, an operator whose only source of navigational charts is an EFB must show that the EFB keeps working through a cabin decompression.
How Is Aircraft Tracking Changing?
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft works out its own position by satellite navigation and broadcasts it, along with altitude and speed, about once per second. Ground stations, satellites and other aircraft can receive the signal, and ADS-B does not need an interrogation from ground radar to transmit.
- ADS-B Out sends the aircraft’s identification, position, altitude and velocity.
- ADS-B In lets pilots see nearby equipped aircraft and, in the United States, receive traffic and weather information at no cost.
- Where it is required: the United States has required ADS-B for many aircraft, including all commercial passenger carriers, since January 2020; it has been mandatory for some aircraft in Europe since 2017 and for aircraft flying under instrument flight rules in Australia.
ADS-B is part of the US Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and Europe’s SESAR program. Canada has used it since January 2009 to watch remote areas, such as around Hudson Bay, that radar does not cover.
Can Airplanes Land Themselves?
Yes. Autoland systems can fully automate the landing of an airliner while the flight crew supervises. They are usually used when visibility is below 600 meters runway visual range or in bad weather, and they rely on a radar altimeter to start the landing flare at about 50 feet. At least two, and often three, independent autopilots work together to provide redundancy.
Newer emergency autoland systems go further for small aircraft. Garmin’s Autoland, activated by a guarded red button, selects a suitable airport after weighing winds, weather and fuel, flies there, lands and informs air traffic control. It received FAA certification in 2020 on the Piper M600 and won the 2020 Collier Trophy. Wikipedia’s account of the system records the first real emergency activation on December 20, 2025, when a Beechcraft King Air B200 landed at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Colorado after the system detected low cabin pressure.
Much of this automation depends on fly-by-wire controls, in which computers translate the pilot’s inputs into control-surface movements and keep the aircraft within its safe flight envelope. Concorde was the first production aircraft with analog fly-by-wire, and the Airbus A320, in service since 1988, was the first mass-produced airliner with digital fly-by-wire. Boeing followed with the 777.
How Is AI Used in Aviation Today?
Artificial intelligence in aviation is used mainly for optimizing operations and for predictive maintenance, where software analyzes data to spot problems before parts fail. Boeing and Airbus use AI to optimize repair procedures. If the terms are new to you, see our guide to the difference between machine learning and AI.
- Training: AI supports flight simulators, where pilots can make mistakes without risking themselves or an aircraft.
- Military research: the US Air Force has staged dogfights with an AI-flown test jet, the VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulator Aircraft), and is exploring AI tools to predict aircraft failures.
- Autopilot research: the 2016 Intelligent Autopilot System learned by observing the control actions and strategy used to fly the airplane.
Training is where pilots meet this technology most directly. Full flight simulators are graded from Level A to Level D; a Level D simulator moves in all six degrees of freedom and is eligible for zero flight time training, used when civil pilots convert from one airliner type to another. Our article on the pros and cons of flight schools covers the training path in more detail.
What Is Sustainable Aviation Fuel?
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is jet fuel made from sources such as waste oils, animal fats, plants or electricity-derived hydrogen rather than crude oil. It is a drop-in fuel, meaning it can be used without extensive changes to engine design. Depending on the biomass used, biofuels can lower carbon dioxide emissions by 20% to 98% compared with conventional jet fuel.
- The first test flight using blended biofuel took place in 2008, and 50% biofuel blends were allowed on commercial flights in 2011.
- SAF production was expected to reach about 1.3 billion liters in 2024, only about 0.3% of global jet fuel consumption.
- The EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation rules require 6% SAF at EU airports by 2030, rising to 20% by 2035 and 70% by 2050.
- The UK’s SAF Mandate requires 10% by 2030, rising to 20% by 2040.
For a wider look at where the industry is heading, see these changes coming to the aviation sector and this explainer on a faster aircraft concept.
What Are the Limits and Risks of New Aviation Technology?
- Cybersecurity: the US Air Force Special Operations Command’s iPad EFB purchase was cancelled in February 2012 over software security concerns.
- Fuel supply: the oils and fats used in HEFA, a key SAF production process, are in limited supply as demand increases.
- Certification: installed cockpit equipment is subject to airworthiness requirements, unlike loose consumer devices.
- Automation limits: autoland systems have weather limits; for a Boeing 747-400, the maximum crosswind component is 25 knots.
These technologies are spread across the whole fleet, from small turboprops to widebody jets. Our overview of the different types of airplanes shows where each kind of aircraft fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the biggest technology changes in aviation?
The biggest changes are digital: fly-by-wire controls, electronic flight bags and ADS-B tracking are now widespread. Sustainable aviation fuel is the main change under way for emissions.
Do pilots use iPads in the cockpit?
Yes. Many airlines issue tablets as electronic flight bags that hold manuals, charts and performance tools. Delta Air Lines, for example, planned to give certified EFBs to all of its pilots by May 2014.
Can a plane land on autopilot?
Yes. Airliners with autoland can land automatically while the crew supervises, mainly in low visibility. Garmin’s emergency Autoland, certified in 2020, can land some small aircraft if the pilot is incapacitated.
Will AI replace airline pilots?
Not as of September 2026. AI is used mainly for operations, predictive maintenance and training, and human pilots remain in the cockpit of passenger flights.
Is the black box really black?
No. Flight recorders must be painted bright orange so they are easier to recover after an accident, and they are specified to withstand an impact of 3,400 g and temperatures over 1,000 °C.
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