Many industries have been hit by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and, unfortunately, which has produced layoffs and even bankruptcy. Those who succeed in surviving sometimes operate with reduced labor, including those who sometimes perform critical operations such as remote flights. As a substitute, Airbus and Cathay Pacific are working on a system that will only have one pilot in the cockpit most of the time, a system that seems to prioritize savings over passenger safety and even their own welfare of employees.
To be clear, the program that is internally known as Project Connect will have another pilot on board, maybe only two more. They will take turns alternately with one pilot on the helmet while the other takes a break. Long-term flights usually have four pilots available in two teams that alternate alternatives in the same way.
If approved, this system will allow airlines to operate with an even smaller crew, reduce the need for half pilots while also shrinking the flight attendant team per flight per flight per flight per flight. This can mean a big savings for these companies that have been injured from the pandemic effect on intercontinental trips. Of course, they might be the only benefit of this change.
The two pilot system is currently established based on the redundancy system. One of the two pilots can take action or take over if there is a problem without losing a valuable time running from a room to the cockpit. Co-pilots can also check each other for physiological problems or vigilance, processes that can be completed but are not completely replaced with an automatic system that monitors the vital pilot through the sensor.
There are also psychological elements to having co-pilots during remote flights. Supporters of the Single Pilot Program show how these long flights hardly have anything happening in the cockpit after reaching a certain height – the more reasons to have someone nearby than throwing hours alone. Having one pilot in the cockpit also puts more pressure on the pilot, which can have psychological consequences in the line.
Of course there are anecdotes where human mistakes have caused a fatal flight accident, but there are also only as many as indicating the error on the automatic system. Two disaster flights involving the new MCAS Boeing 737 Max (augmentation system characteristic maneuverability) are only the latest, but there are several incidents where the automatic or co-pilot system that rests compromised aircraft safety. Lufthansa, who has also worked on this single pilot program, there are no plans to use them and the insider source claims that Airbus cannot guarantee that the automated system will be able to handle any situation without a 15-minute pilot. ,
And then there is a fact that this airline employee itself has struggled to meet needs. In the face of massive layoffs, the mere suggestion of pilots and flight crews is likely to cause a shower between their workforce and trade unions. Passengers may also feel uncomfortable on remote flights who know that they have fewer crew on the boat.
All of these tests by Airbus and Cathay, however, maybe because they did not remember the obstacles faced by the pilot-pilot plan. The system also does not only need approval from the local supervisory body but also from the International Agency. Single pilot flights require approval of ICAO PBB and their countries will fly, including China.
