On February 14, Li Jian, Deputy Administrator of CAAC, led a team to Haikou to study the application of head-up displays (HUDs) in aircraft. He learnt about the application of HUDs in China’s civil aviation industry in general, debriefed Hainan Airlines and 6 other airlines on their usage of HUDs, visited the simulator center in the Sky Plumage Flight Training Company of Hainan Airlines and operated the HUDs in B737 and A320 simulators. He also led a discussion on the development of policies and standards for HUDs in future.

Li Jian proposed several requirements aimed at comprehensively promoting the application and development of HUDs. First, to seek innovative development, the industry should break away from conventional thinking, enhance awareness and foster long-term strategic thinking. Second, airlines should apply for supplementary certificates for HUDs as early as possible, include HUDs as a requisite in pilots’ training programs, set up a task force to carry out research on the application of HUDs, and make a concentrated use of aircraft equipped with HUDs to foster a team of pilots with the ability to operate such devices. Third, relevant departments or bureaus of CAAC should speed up the introduction of new standards and policies in consultation with entities involved, and regional administrations should strengthen oversight and inspection. Fourth, flight operation management departments, airports, communication, navigation and air traffic control entities and other relevant departments should work together to coordinate their respective standards and make joint efforts to provide a favorable external environment and policy support for the application and popularization of HUDs and other new technologies.

In August 2012, CAAC published the Roadmap for the Application and Development of HUDs, which put forward a three-phased plan for the implementation of HUDs from 2013 to 2025. By the end of 2016, the number of aircraft equipped with HUDs in China was 486, accounting for 16.5% of the national total; 50 airports were approved for HUD special Cat I operation, and nine (Qingdao, Ji’nan, Yantai, Urumqi, Zhengzhou, Haikou, Hongqiao, Taiyuan and Guiyang) were approved for HUD special Cat II operation, hitting the targets set for the first phase of the HUD Roadmap. The industry is now in the second phase of HUD implementation, and the new target is to have 50% of the transport aircraft nationwide installed with HUDs by 2020.