A method of managing alerts associated with the operation of an aircraft is provided. The method maintains an alert model database that correlates root causes to alerts associated with onboard aircraft subsystems. During operation of the aircraft, the method receives first alert data indicative of at least one alert of a first onboard aircraft subsystem, and traverses the alert model database to determine a root cause of the first alert data. The root cause (or some indicia thereof) can then be displayed on a display element.