In most modern aircraft, their complex systems are both monitored and adjusted by electronic microprocessors and computers, resulting in the elimination of the flight engineer's position.

Traditionally, the FE station has been usually placed on the main flight deck just aft of the pilot and copilot, and close to the navigator.

[4] On some military airplanes (Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, Boeing E-3 Sentry, McDonnell Douglas KC-10) the FE sits behind the co-pilot in the cockpit, facing outboard to operate a panel of switches, gauges and indicators or forward to operate throttles, lighting controls, flight controls.

The FE is the aircraft systems expert onboard and responsible for troubleshooting and suggesting solutions to in-flight emergencies and abnormal technical conditions, as well as computing takeoff and landing data.

However, this position also doubled as a gunner, usually operating the upper turret, as was the case of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Unlike commercial pilots, the Federal Aviation Administration never set a mandatory retirement age for flight engineers.

[5] This policy was the subject of two U.S. Supreme Court cases in 1985, when it ruled against Western Airlines that forced retirement of flight engineers based on the regulations for pilots was a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Earlier in the year it had rejected a policy that prevented pilots from "bumping" flight engineers from their positions upon the former reaching retirement age.

[6] Starting in the 1980s, the development of powerful and small integrated circuits and other advances in computers and digital technology eliminated the need for flight engineers on airliners and many modern military aircraft.

[10] The final major cargo operator to employ flight engineers was FedEx Express when they retired the last of their 727s in 2013.

[11] FedEx continued to operate the DC-10 until the end of 2022, all of which were originally delivered with a flight engineer's station, however all examples that were still in the fleet had been converted to MD-10 standard, which provided for a two-crew cockpit.