So, across all the Halo games, we never really got to fly the Pelican. In Halo Reach, it was available as an easter egg, an awesome bonus for hunting down those triggers. But when it came to dogfights over the Ark or blasting apart Scarabs or puttering around New Alexandria, we always had something else to fly.

I think this is because the cockpit of a Pelican is a poor fit for the Chief.

The primary use of a Pelican is to deliver hardware and meat shields when the Master Chief needs them. Someone need a Warthog? We deliver. Need reinforcements? Drop the hangar doors, and we'll park them in there. Running low on ammo? Be sure to stock up with those drop canisters. And how many levels end with the Chief stepping into the blood tray to be carried to the next level?

Yes, Pelicans do CAS*, but it's supplementary to their main role as troop transport. Tellingly, when it came time to take to the skies, we had Hornets and Falcons to fly. Hornets and Falcons are more 'traditional' Halo vehicles, because they can carry passengers who help you fight. And when we're out of targets, we land and continue fighting, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves unless they can keep up.

*Close air support. Don't leave home without it.

Now, I know that y'all have been reading this article thinking "What about Halo 4? What about Shutdown?" And I'm getting to that.
When we got to fly an 'alleged' Pelican, it was... different. And, many would say, unfulfilling. The Pelican was used solely for the transport of one man; there was nothing it had to do that distinguished it from a Falcon or a Hornet with a crate of firearms lashed to the deck.

I think that the, ah, the Pelican was included solely as fanservice, and the developers at 343i really struggled with finding something to do with it. Eventually, they had to modify it into something it wasn't to make it (relatively) interesting to fly. They gave it a boost function so players wouldn't get bored flying from one tower to the next. There were these sideseats stuck on there like tits on a Sangheili, because... I don't know. I just don't know.

So, if Pelicans deliver troops and support them, can the Chief fly them? Can you imagine, as the Chief, dropping off a squad of troops to take a Forerunner installation and then supporting them from the air? Let them do most of the fighting? The Chief is built to lead, to fight for others.

To tell the truth, I can see this being a game of its own. As a Pelican pilot, you could drop off a squad or two and a Warthog, and then order them to their destination. Gun down enemies, direct troopers to cover, call down artillery, even fetch supplies the groundpounders can't reach.
It would be a very Halo style of RTS, that's for sure. Perhaps it could be a mobile game centered around a character people care about, like Foehammer?

Another situation where I can see us flying a Pelican, as the Master Chief even, is in a crisis when there isn't anyone to fly a Pelican, and it has to be us who take out a dropship and retrieve scattered troops and abandoned supplies. Only, Halo 4 was the perfect opportunity for it, and nothing even remotely similar took place. I think it's safe to say that we won't be seeing the Chief behind the yoke of a Pelican, or doing anything fundamentally different from what we've already done in the past four mainline games.

Thoughts?