Boeing picks Rockwell Collins to equip 777X with touch-screen controls

Boeing and Rockwell Collins are teaming up to install the first touch screens, ubiquitous features on everything from cell phones to car dashboards, in the cockpits of next-generation airliners. The plane maker has picked Rockwell Collins to provide touch-screen controls for all 5 permanent displays on the flight decks of future Boeing 777X jets. The move caps years of debate over the safety and utility of touch screens, which critics argued could be more difficult to use in turbulence than other types of controls. But after extensive testing in simulators and an experimental aircraft called the ecoDemonstrator, Boeing in July announced its decision to introduce touch screens in 777X forward displays. At the time, Boeing said such features “perform as well as or better than current devices” for pilot interactions with displays. <br/>