Scott R. Winter

What Are the Predictors of System-Wide Trust Loss in Transportation Automation?

Prior research has examined how individuals place trust in single (e.g., Meyer, 2001, 2004) and multiple (e.g., Geels-Blair, Rice, & Schwark, 2013) automated devices when one fails. This has shown that participants are influenced by system-wide trust (SWT). What has been missing is an investigation into what types of people succumb to SWT effects. The current study attempts to replicate SWT findings and identify possible predictors of individuals likely to be influenced by SWT. The findings did demonstrate a replication of SWT. The study found that ‘‘feelings of negativity when automated devices fail’’ was a significant predictor of SWT theory.

How Nationality, Weather, Wind, and Distance Affect Consumer Willingness to Fly in Autonomous Airplanes

Several studies have examined passengers’ trust in human-operated systems versus autonomous systems. Prior studies have also reported cultural differences among individuals from India and the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate how nationality, weather, wind, and distance affect passengers’ willingness to fly in autonomous aircraft. Participants included 161 volunteers from the United States and 137 volunteers from India. In 12 different conditions, participants were asked to rate their willingness to fly in an autonomous aircraft, given information about the weather (sunny, raining, or snowing), the wind level (no wind versus strong wind), and the flight distance (short flight versus long flight). These conditions were presented randomly to each participant. Subsequently, participants were asked qualitative, open-ended questions. The results indicated that Indian participants were generally positive about autonomous commercial flights, except in the most extreme conditions. American participants were generally negative about autonomous commercial flights, except in perfect conditions. Participants were also asked their opinions on advantages of automation, disadvantages of automation, and specific weather concerns. Implications for the findings are discussed.

Perceptions of Cockpit Configurations: A Culture and Gender Analysis

ABSTRACT Objective: With the advancement of technology in recent years the topic of autonomous, pilotless cockpits have emerged. The rhetoric of this article revolves around passenger perceptions and their willingness to fly on board such aircraft. Background: Although studies have been conducted to gauge similar consumer perceptions, this study compared 3 different 2-pilot configurations based on pilot gender to that of the autonomous or automated cockpit. These configurations included 2 male pilots, 1 male and 1 female pilot, and 2 female pilots. Method: 433 participants from India and the United States were recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and responded to questions designed to measure consumer perceptions on the topic at hand. The study used Rice, Mehta, et al.’s (2015) willingness-to-fly scale to collect the data. Results: The results suggested that all participants were more willing to fly on board all 3 types of 2-pilot configurations as opposed to the autonomous cockpit. However, Indian male participants showed a decrease in willingness to fly on board the 2-female-pilot configurations as opposed to the other 2-human-pilot configurations. Additionally, U.S. participants were much less willing to fly on board the autonomous configuration as compared to their Indian counterparts. Conclusion: The findings suggest that all participants were least willing to fly on aircraft flown completely by an autopilot. Differences were also noted based on pilot gender.

Perceptions Toward the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program and Willingness to Fly

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, numerous changes were implemented to aviation security. One of those programs was the arming of commercial airline pilots with handguns while they were on duty in a flight capacity. Since its inception, the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program has been controversial in nature. The purpose of this study was to examine participant perceptions and their willingness to fly based on whether or not the pilot of their hypothetical flight was armed and participating in the FFDO program. A sample of 812 participants was selected from both India and the United States using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk® (MTurk). In general, the findings indicate that participants were more willing to fly when their pilot was armed; however, American females indicated no significant difference between the two conditions. Affect measures were also collected from participants and suggest that the relationship between the condition and the participants’ willingness to fly was mediated by emotions. The findings of the study provide information on participants’ view of the arming of pilots and suggest that, for the most part, participants in this study seem supportive of FFDO and the arming of pilots of commercial airliners. This finding is limited to participants who take part in online human intelligence tasks through services such as MTurk, who may or may not have been a commercial flight passenger.

Consumers’ Perceptions About Autopilots and Remote-Controlled Commercial Aircraft

Trust, willingness, and comfort to fly on an airliner is a large factor in the consumer’s travel plan decision process. This research aims to further understand consumers’ opinions on the set-up of the cockpit in terms of number of pilots, and seeks establish a line of studies geared towards the development of future cockpit set-ups. The foundation of which will be invaluable to the future of the aviation industry, and could potentially be the stepping-stone to the future. The study asks participants from the United States and India to rate their trust, willingness and comfort to fly on a commercial flight piloted by three different cockpit scenarios: a traditional two pilot cockpit; a hybrid with one pilot in the cockpit and one remote control pilot on the ground; or two remote control pilots on the ground. The research shows, as predicted, that participants would trust the traditional set-up more than the hybrid mix, while having negative feelings of trust towards the completely automated aircraft with two remote control pilots on the ground.