Definition
Electronic flight displays that present flight, navigation, engine, and systems information on one or more multifunction screens rather than on individual mechanical gauges. A typical glass cockpit replaces the traditional six-pack of round dials with a Primary Flight Display (PFD) and a Multi-Function Display (MFD) driven by digital sensors and computers.
Plain English
Cockpit instruments shown on computer screens instead of separate mechanical dials.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of modern cockpits, especially when comparing screen-based displays with traditional round-dial instruments.
Derivation
Called 'glass' because the information is presented behind the glass face of an electronic screen, in contrast to the older mechanical dials that each had their own physical movement behind a small glass cover.
Why Pilots Care
Glass instruments integrate multiple readings on one screen, reduce workload, and improve situational awareness compared with scanning separate analog gauges.
Analogy
It is similar to the difference between old separate car gauges and a modern dashboard screen that combines speed, navigation, and system messages in one place.
Intuition Check
Do not read “glass” as meaning a fragile instrument made of glass. In this context, it means an electronic screen-based instrument rather than a mechanical round-dial instrument.
Example Sentence 1
The new training aircraft has glass instruments, so the student is learning to read a PFD instead of a traditional six-pack.
Example Sentence 2
During the transition course the instructor pointed out how the glass instruments display airspeed and altitude right next to each other.