The cockpit of any aircraft is the most obvious location for avionics. It is also the most contentious and difficult. Systems that allow the aircraft to fly safely or have direct control over the aircraft are all directly controlled by the pilot. These safety critical systems and the items that support them are all referred to as aircraft avionics. Honeywell is the leading market leader in flight avionics.

Probably the first piece of avionics to exist, the ability to communicate from the aircraft to the ground has been crucial to aircraft design since its inception. The boom in telecommunications has meant aircraft (civilian and military) fly with a vast array of communication devices. A small number of these provide the critical air to ground communications systems for safe passage. On board communications are provided by public address systems and aircraft intercoms.

Soon after communications the envelope within which an aircraft could be operated was limited by the conditions. Navigation sensors have been developed from the early days to assist pilots in safe flight. As with communications, there is a vast array of radio navigation and relative aircraft based navigation devices that can be fitted to an aircraft. One of the most important ways in which aircraft navigation is done today is with the aid of the GPS system.

Today the reliability of LCDs means that even these flight critical back ups are 'glass'. But this is only the superficial element. Display systems carry out checks of key sensor data that allows the aircraft to fly safely in very aggressive environments. Display software is often written in the same way as that for flight control software, as essentially the pilot will follow it. The display systems can take multiple different methods of determining attitude, heading and altitude that the aircraft use, and provide them in a safe and easy to use manner to aircrew.