Many industries have been affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and, unfortunately, this has resulted in dismissals and even bankruptcies. Those who managed to survive sometimes work with reduced workforce, including those on sometimes critical operations such as long-haul flights. Instead, Airbus and Cathay Pacific are working on a system that will only have one pilot at the cockpit position most of the time, a system that seems to give priority to the safety of passengers and even their own well-being of employees.
To be clear, the program known internally under the Connect project name will have other pilots on board, possibly two at most two at most. They will alternate changes with a driver at the bar while the other takes a break. Long-haul flights normally have four drivers available in teams of two alternative equipment in the same way.
In case of approved, this system would allow airlines to operate with even smaller crews, which would reduce the need to fly by half while also reducing the team of flight attendants. This could mean great savings for these companies that are already hurting the effects of the pandemic on intercontinental displacement. Of course, they could be the only ones to benefit from this change.
The current two pilot system has been established on the basis of a redundancy system. One of the two pilots can take action or take care of a problem without wasting valuable time to work with a cockpit room. Co-pilots can also check one on others for physiological problems or vigilance, a process that can be completed but not actually replaced by automated systems that monitor pilot vitals through sensors.
There is also a psychological element of having a co-pilot during these long-haul flights. Proponents of the single-pilot program emphasize how these long stolen people have barely something going on in the cockpit after reaching certain altitudes – every reason to have a nearby person rather than unleashing the hours alone. Having a single driver in the cockpit puts even more pressure on this driver, which could have psychological ramifications on the line.
There is of course anecdotes where human error has caused fatal aviation accidents, but there is also as much as blame on automated systems. The two disastrous flights involving the new MCAS of Boeing 737 Max (system of increasing maneuver characteristics) are only the last, but there have been several incidents where automated systems or co-drivers at rest compromised The security of the aircraft. Lufthansa, who also works on this unique pilot program, does not intend to use it and a source of insider asserts that Airbus could not guarantee that an automated system would be able to manage a unmanned situation for 15 minutes. .
And then, there is the fact that the employees of these airlines are themselves difficult to fight to make ends meet. Faced with massive layoffs, the simple suggestion of drivers of half and driving crews will probably provoke a tumult among their labor and workers’ unions. Passengers could also feel less comfortable on long-haul flights knowing that they have less crew on board.
All of these tests of Airbus and Cathay, however, could be intended not to take into account the unique obstacles of the pilot plan. The system will also require not only the approval of local regulatory agencies, but also international organizations. Unique pilot flights need the United Nations OCIO approval as well as countries they fly over, including China.
