Maritime navigation techniques were adapted to aviation. For a similar reason airplanes have captains. A few decades ago they also had navigators. With a ded

Maritime navigation techniques were adapted to aviation. For a similar reason airplanes have captains. A few decades ago they also had navigators. With a dedicated position in the cockpit. It’s also customary to measure altitude in feet. Except in China (except Hong Kong), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Russia is actually moving to feet at some altitudes. Turkmenistan similarly uses feet or meters depending on altitude. The units themselves are irrelevant as long as everyone uses the same ones. Switching costs are significant both in terms of training and equipment.