When Do They Fly On Autopilot?
Many people think that a plane’s human pilot steers the aircraft for the majority of the flight, but the truth is quite different. In fact, human pilots are mostly behind the plane’s joystick for emergencies. For over 90% of flight time, however, the autopilot is switched on.
While take-off, landing, and taxiing all require a human hand, once the plane is in the air the autopilot takes over, while the human pilots are free to focus on system checks, navigation, and communication with nearby control towers.