"Ouch, that speed hurts": How cost algorithms in modern autopilots change the aesthetics of flying airplanes

In this paper, we draw attention to the so far largely ignored roles of cost saving software in transport and mobility systems. Based on an in-depth qualitative study of modern flying, we examine the ways in which cost management algorithms are increasingly used to bypass human operators for making complex technological architectures work more cost-efficiently. The case studies the implications of this 'invisibilization' of accounting by focusing on two types of cost management algorithms that are nowadays an integral part of airplanes' autopilot: the cost index (CI) and takeoff performance calculation (TOP). The study highlights how airlines, over time, have shifted from encouraging pilots to perform manual cost management towards letting the aircraft 'think' itself about what makes a flight most cost-efficient. We outline how this strategic change from explicitly fostering pilots' cost sensibility towards implanting a costsaving rationale directly into an airplane's technological 'brain' fundamentally redefines how pilots see themselves, how they handle their instruments, what excites them about flying, and how they cope with non-routine situations. By showing the unique ways cost-saving algorithms in transport systems infuse human users, the paper provides scholarship with new insights on how organizations can implement strategic accounting intentions and make non-accounting professionals engage with such an accounting rationale.