Have safety margins widened (weather, separation, etc.)?

[C150J]

This goes out to the pros that have flown in "the system" for much longer than I have:

In the past twenty years, leaps and bounds have been made with TCAS II, AFCS, FMS, and weather forecasting/radar technology. Do you feel that more flights are being completed these days thanks to these advancements? We hear about how technology might eventually lead to unmanned systems (particularly in the freight sector), but all I'm seeing technology accomplish is enabling us to do our jobs better. More planes, more operations in bad weather, all thanks to technology.

Thoughts?

[SIUav8er]

i hope we never see unmaned aircraft take the place of flight crews

[C150J]

Originally Posted by SIUav8er

i hope we never see unmaned aircraft take the place of flight crews

My argument is that we won't - we'll just see more congested airspace and more bad weather ops thanks to more sophisticated technology. I think we'll be needed more than ever to know the regulatory environment and monitor the situation.

[Mahesh]

Originally Posted by C150J

This goes out to the pros that have flown in "the system" for much longer than I have:

In the past twenty years, leaps and bounds have been made with TCAS II, AFCS, FMS, and weather forecasting/radar technology. Do you feel that more flights are being completed these days thanks to these advancements? We hear about how technology might eventually lead to unmanned systems (particularly in the freight sector), but all I'm seeing technology accomplish is enabling us to do our jobs better. More planes, more operations in bad weather, all thanks to technology.

Thoughts?

I am not a pro-pilot (I'm a GA pilot) but I do work with the FAA on their air traffic moderization program. Separation standards will not be reduced for another few years until more aircraft can fly RNP procedures. Weather data (particularly lightning, icing and turbulence) will become more available to center controllers in the next couple of years. Lastly, the impact of UAVs on US airspace is being heavily researched, but it's more the homeland security/DOD UVAs, not cargo. There is even talk of putting ADS-B on UAVs so that the ATC and aircraft with ASD-B can see the UAVs.

[Doug Taylor]

Originally Posted by C150J

This goes out to the pros that have flown in "the system" for much longer than I have:

In the past twenty years, leaps and bounds have been made with TCAS II, AFCS, FMS, and weather forecasting/radar technology. Do you feel that more flights are being completed these days thanks to these advancements? We hear about how technology might eventually lead to unmanned systems (particularly in the freight sector), but all I'm seeing technology accomplish is enabling us to do our jobs better. More planes, more operations in bad weather, all thanks to technology.

Thoughts?

Not really in my opinion. We have more tools, yes, but sometimes they help so much they hurt.

Yes we have TCAS, but then we're doing PRM approaches and in some cases, having to turn off the RA (resolution advisory) mode, the time when you'd seriously benefit when the bozo on the parallel decides to join the wrong localizer.

We have GPS and laser-ring gyro navigation (IRU) but now they're so accurate that if you're on J121 at FL380 flying north and there's another plane descending on J121 flying south, chances are you're going to lose separation because the 'slop' in the nav systems have been minimized.

Each advancement can be and often is a double-edged sword.

If it's a "tool", it's fantastic, but if it's used as a "crutch" for poor airmanship or an accountant trying to squeeze the last $.00001 cent of CASM out of the aircraft, it's a timebomb.