The Flight Path to Autonomy: Insights from Honeywell and Industry Leaders

The Journey of Autonomy: It’s Not All or Nothing

What does autonomy really mean for aviation today – and what’s just hype? That was one of the central questions explored during a recent FlightGlobal webinar featuring Honeywell’s Sapan Shah, alongside experts from Daedalean and Reliable Robotics.

The big takeaway: autonomy’s mission is to make flying safer, smarter and more scalable.

“Autonomy is not about replacing the pilot,” Shah explained.“It's providing more assistance to the pilot, providing situational awareness, reducing the complexity so that the missions can be done safely, and for certain use cases, we can do missions that would have never been completed because of human involvement or the other challenges associated with managing operations. So to me, autonomy needs to be really looked at on a use-case-by-use-case basis.”

Other panelists echoed the view that automation is not a binary shift – it’s a continuum, from assistive tools to fully autonomous systems.

Dispelling Myths: Building Trust in the Skies

One major hurdle for autonomy is public perception. 


Shah shared a striking anecdote about presenting to his child’s fourth-grade class: “The first questions were, ‘Is AI going to take over humans?’” Shah shared. “We're seeing a glimpse of this confusion, of this mistrust, even in people that are born native digital and saying, ‘Hey, how far is this going to push us?’ That's one of the big misconceptions, that autonomy means the vehicle is deciding its own mission, and that's not the case here.”

For Shah, trust is built on transparency. “Trust comes not through marketing or glowy brochures, it comes through clarity of mission. The industry needs to do a good job in communicating why are we bringing automation, what purpose it is serving and how is this automation or autonomy going to work with the pilots?”

Yemaya Bordain, President of the Americas at Daedalean, emphasized that much of the automation in aviation is already here and mostly invisible to the public. Route optimization, predictive maintenance and better dispatch operations are just as important as what happens in the cockpit.

Where Autonomy Gains Traction First

According to Shah, defense and cargo are leading the charge into autonomy. Honeywell, in partnership with Near Earth Autonomy, is already working with the U.S. Marine Corps to convert helicopters like the AW139 into uncrewed vehicles for contested environments.

Shah added these are missions where a crewed aircraft might be too risky or where there’s simply the need to scale fast and there are not enough pilots to meet the demand.

Bordain and Larry Surace, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Partnerships at Reliable Robotics, pointed to uncrewed cargo operations and humanitarian missions as natural early adopters, where the benefit-to-risk ratio makes autonomy a strategic asset.

Technology Moves Fast – Can Regulation Keep Up?

Panelists were unanimous that the biggest challenge is policy. Bordain explained that regulators are doing their jobs protecting civilians, but the pace of certification still lags behind.

Shah emphasized that autonomy is being certified today but often on a case-by-case basis. “What we would like to see is a published framework, a set of regulations that everybody can meet to achieve these missions.”

Reliable Robotics’ Surace shared how they’ve worked closely with the FAA on a five-stage certification plan – demonstrating that proactive collaboration can move the process forward, even if slowly.

Responsible AI and Human-Machine Teaming

On the topic of AI and machine learning, Shah pointed out that Honeywell leverages AI for perception-related systems like vision-based landing but avoids AI in flight-critical systems – for now.

Bordain added that AI isn’t a magical wrapper but a tool used at the component level. When properly tested and certified, she argued, it can support – not replace – human pilots.

Still, Shah and the panelists agreed that human-machine teaming must be built thoughtfully to avoid mode confusion. “You break it down for the entire mission,” Shah said. “What are all the tasks associated in completing the mission and have those tasks been clearly identified as falling under the responsibility of the pilot or the system?”

What’s Next: A Clear, Gradual Path Forward

Mainstream acceptance of autonomy will likely come from starting small and demonstrating real value. In use cases like firefighting, border patrol or humanitarian cargo delivery, autonomy can fill clear operational gaps and deliver measurable safety and efficiency benefits – giving the industry a foundation of success stories to build public and regulatory trust.

Shah predicts Honeywell playing a central role: “Over the next five to 10 years, Honeywell truly will become the certifiable autonomy backbone across various different sectors.”