Aerospace: The automated cockpit: The digital revolution catches up with commercial airline cockpits and stirs old questions over how many crew members are needed

In the fall of 1982, some airline pilots sat for the first time in front of digital cockpit control panels that look radically different from the analog panels used for several decades. What were formerly rows of dials, lights, buttons, and indicators spread over three panels have been replaced by a half-dozen electronic display screens and several dozen other major indicators. Behind the panels is the most sophisticated automation yet used in airliners; it both activates the control displays and helps the pilots fly the planes in a safe and fuel-efficient manner.