“Ouch, that speed hurts”​: How cost algorithms in modern autopilots ​ change the aesthetics of flying airplanes

In this paper, we draw attention to the so far largely ignored roles of cost saving software in
transport and mobility systems. Based on an in-depth qualitative study of modern flying, we
examine the ways in which cost-saving algorithms are increasingly used to bypass human
operators and to make complex technological architectures work more efficiently. The case
will study the implications of this ‘invisibilization’ of cost management by two types of cost
management algorithms that are nowadays an integral part of airplanes’ autopilot: the cost
index (CI) and take-off performance calculation (TOP). The study highlights how airlines, over
time, have shifted from encouraging pilots to perform manual cost management towards letting
the aircraft ‘think’ itself about what makes the flight most cost-efficient. We outline how this
shift from explicitly fostering pilots’ cost sensibility towards implanting a cost-saving rationale
into an airplane’s technological ‘brain’ fundamentally redefines the ways in which pilots see
themselves, how they handle their instruments, what excites them about flying, and how they
cope with non-routine situations. We show the unique ways in which such cost-saving
algorithms in transport systems infuse us with cost-saving rationales.