Every commercial flight has two pilots at the controls — but some plane makers are now designing cockpits that need fewer pilots, or someday even none.
So far, their airline customers have been quiet on the issue, but pilots’ unions across the globe are getting louder, saying any fewer than two pilots is dangerous.
The idea is most active in Europe, where French manufacturers Airbus and Dassault are pushing for regulators to allow passenger planes to operate with only one pilot in the cockpit for the majority of a long-haul flight.
It isn’t just theoretical. Manufacturers are actively developing and testing a host of autonomous flight projects, including for commercial uses.EASA, the European Union’s aviation regulator, is considering a concept that would have two pilots in the cockpit only for take-off and landing. For the rest of the flight, the second pilot would rest outside the cockpit, swapping shifts mid-way through a […]
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