An avionics display unit for use in a flight management system (FMS) of an aircraft, and a method of using the same to increase a pilot's awareness of scheduled changes in operational modes of the aircraft are disclosed. The display unit includes a display device adapted to receive FMS data and to provide a graphical representation of a flight plan for the aircraft relative to a representation of a current position of the aircraft. The display unit is also adapted to provide future mode annunciators, representative of future operational modes of the aircraft, adjacent to positions on the graphical representation of the flight plan at which the future operational modes are scheduled to occur.