Plain English Meaning

The cockpit computers and systems that help fly and navigate the aircraft for the pilot. The pilot sets them up, monitors them, and tells them what to do — but the systems handle much of the moment-to-moment work.

Full Definition

The collection of computer-based systems in a modern cockpit that perform navigation, flight path management, and aircraft control tasks under pilot supervision. This includes the autopilot, flight director, flight management system (FMS), autothrottle, and the navigation databases that feed them.