Closing the Human–Automation Gap Across the Aviation Operations Value Chain

HYATT PLACE Phoenix, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd, Chandler AZ 85226
June 9, 2026
8:30 - 17:00 (MST)
Event Pass

$2,499.00

$ 1999

Who should attend

Senior leaders responsible for safety performance, operational decision-making, and automation adoption in high-risk aviation environments.

Short intro

Automation is reshaping airline and MRO operations — but success is determined less by the technology itself and more by how humans interact with it under pressure. This one-day masterclass helps leaders build safe, scalable automation that strengthens decision-making, protects safety culture, and avoids “automation complacency” across high-consequence environments. We will be resolving the gaps and biases in human versus technology centered automation across the Aviation Management value chain.

5 Benefits (why attend)

  • Cut operational risk by building automation that strengthens — not substitutes — human judgement in critical decisions
  • Elevate safety performance by aligning automation with real-world human factors
  • Speed adoption by solving trust, usability, and frontline buy-in from day one
  • Clarify accountability with clean decision ownership between people and systems
  • Build disruption-ready operations that perform under fatigue, stress, and time pressure

5 Key takeaways

  • Clear guidance on when automation strengthens — or risks — aviation operations
  • Practical safeguards to prevent over-reliance and maintain situational awareness
  • Proven approaches for stress-testing automation in real-world conditions
  • Human-in-the-loop models that align safety, operations, and technology teams
  • Leadership actions to ensure automation reinforces safety culture and confidence

Keynote Speaker

Dave Gajadhar

Senior Business Advisor | Regulated Industries | Strategy, Sustainability, Policy Modernization & Operational Effectiveness

Event Agenda

8:30 - 9:15
Welcome & The "Black Box" Icebreaker
An immersive simulation exploring automation surprise, where operational logic shifts without warning. Designed to highlight trust, situational awareness, and leadership responses in highly automated aviation environments.
9:15 - 10:15
Closing Aviation Value Chain Gaps
A strategic view across the aviation operations chain — from route planning and flight execution to MRO and ground operations — identifying where alignment breaks down. Executive Exercise: Mapping the operational value chain to surface handover risks where automated outputs transition to human judgement.
10:15 - 10:30
Morning Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:30
The Bias Audit: Complacency vs. Distrust
Examining the leadership challenge of balancing automation reliance with critical oversight. Includes a real-world case study of human-automation breakdown and its operational consequences.
11:30 - 12:30
Automation Audit Framework
Defining levels of automation from manual control to autonomy, and clarifying where human expertise remains essential for safety, resilience, and operational confidence. Participants evaluate their own operational technologies, including predictive maintenance, flight deck automation, and operational decision tools.
12.30
Lunch Break
13.00 - 13.30
Human-Centric Automation Design
Identifying where context, intent, or operational nuance is lost between systems and people. Focus on designing workflows where technology strengthens human judgement rather than substituting for it.
13.30 - 14.15
Turning Data Into Operational Decisions
How to present operational data so it drives timely action rather than passive monitoring. Explores cognitive risks in automated environments, including automation bias, complacency, and decision fatigue.
14.15 - 15.30
Executive Design Sprint: Fixing the Handover
Breakout groups redesign a critical operational process where automation and human judgement intersect. Includes a “Silent Failure” simulation highlighting how apparently stable data can mask emerging operational risk.
15.30
Afternoon Coffee Break
15.45 - 16.30
Building Operational Resilience: Manual Reversion Strategy
Maintaining critical human capabilities in highly automated operations. Covers training for system outages, biased automation outputs, and building explainable AI frameworks to strengthen trust and accountability.
16.30 - 17.00
Strategic Roadmap & KPI Alignment
Defining performance indicators that measure effective human-automation collaboration — not just system uptime. Includes stress-testing automated decisions to ensure optimisation does not compromise safety or resilience.
17.00
Close & Executive Commitment
Participants leave with one concrete action to strengthen human-automation balance, reduce operational risk, and enhance decision confidence.

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