Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Nationality, Weather, Wind, And Distance Affect Consumer Willingness To Fly In Autonomous Airplanes, Nadine K. Ragbir, Bradley S. Baugh, Stephen Rice, Scott R. Winter

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Several studies have examined passengers’ trust in human-operated systems versus autonomous systems. Prior studies have also reported cultural differences among individuals from India and the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate how nationality, weather, wind, and distance affect passengers’ willingness to fly in autonomous aircraft. Participants included 161 volunteers from the United States and 137 volunteers from India. In 12 different conditions, participants were asked to rate their willingness to fly in an autonomous aircraft, given information about the weather (sunny, raining, or snowing), the wind level (no wind versus strong wind), and the flight distance …