Flight deck communication and display system

A method of displaying a modified flight plan on a flight deck display consisting of a single screen, the method comprising:

• processing data representative of a current aircraft flight plan;
• processing a textual air traffic clearance message representative of the modified flight plan;
• comparing the textual air traffic clearance message with first factors affecting aircraft safety and second factors affecting aircraft efficiency, wherein the first factors are selected from at least one of the group consisting of terrain, traffic, and restricted airspace, and the second factors are selected from at least one of the group consisting of noise and emissions;
• substantially simultaneously displaying, on the flight deck display, an image representative of the current aircraft flight plan, an image of the modified flight plan, the air traffic clearance message and an alert indicating whether the modified flight plan impacts the at least one of aircraft safety and aircraft efficiency, the presentation of the alert being selected from the group consisting of an aural message, information displayed on the flight deck display, and a combination thereof.

A flight deck communication and display system for displaying a modified flight plan, the system comprising:

• a processor on board the aircraft configured to receive a textual air traffic clearance message representative of the modified flight plan;
• the processor comparing the modified flight plan with factors affecting at least one of aircraft safety and efficiency, wherein the factors affecting safety are selected from one of the group consisting of terrain, traffic, and restricted airspace, and the factors affecting efficiency are selected from at least one of the group consisting of noise and emissions;
• and
• a single display coupled to the processor and configured to simultaneously display (i) a current flight plan, (ii) the modified flight plan, (iii) a modified flight plan textual description, and (iv) a textual alert message indicating whether there are any safety or efficiency concerns determined by the comparison of the modified flight plan with factors affecting at least one of aircraft safety and efficiency.