Posted on 12/11/2022 10:22:14 AM PST by DFG
In the airline business, there are two cost factors the airlines can never control: fuel and labor. And as technology improves — and pilot salaries increase — there's been a controversial move lately by the industry to try to amend what's known as part 121 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. That's the federal air regulation that requires air carriers to have two pilots in the cockpit at all times.
The airlines have been quietly lobbying that the single-pilot approach would quickly solve the staffing problem caused by the pilot shortage and that technology has vastly improved to allow for safe operation of a single-pilot flight.
There's language in a new bill now introduced in Congress — the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill — asking the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider part 121 and to allow the use of a single pilot operation, first in cargo aircraft.
Not surprisingly, airline pilots are loudly protesting this idea, claiming that it would diminish a safety discipline and culture that has been responsible for the safest 25 years in commercial aviation in the history of aviation. Pilots unions argue it's all about the airlines saving money and could compromise safety.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Who is going to land the plane when the vaxxed pilot has a heart attack?
Yeah, remember the other week with the pilot had a “medical episode” and the co-pilot had to land the plane? That probably happens more often than we know. This would be a recipe for disaster.
“Is there anyone on board that can fly a plane?”
The hardest part of flying a plane of any complexity is cockpit management and communication demands on the radio. It gets extremely busy at critical phases of flight. The aspect of decision making is the left seat job regardless.
Maybe have at least one flight attendant that can emergency land a plane using automatic systems.
Yes, I brought that up on another forum discussing this subject. The airliner pilot slumped over and died instantly in his seat 30 minutes after takeoff and the copilot had to take over. If there was no copilot, the plane would have crashed killing all aboard.
Not only no but hell no.
Technology already makes it possible for planes to takeoff and land by themselves. In the future there will just be a pilot and a dog in the cockpit. The dog’s job will be to bite the pilot if he touches anything.
The pilot shortage is of their own making since they changed the required hours to be a first officer to 1500 vs 300. If the lowered the hours on regionals first officers to say 300 to 500 hours, that would allow more people to get the hours in other than military pilots. Maybe you could to do these for the cargo airlines as well.
'Come fly the friendly skies...in a lawn dart'
.... and land by themselves.
“Cat III Autoland”.
Incredibly expensive, and available only on certain airplanes and at certain airports.
That joke was mildly amusing 40 years ago ...
I am not opposed to it with an additional medical sign off and the autoland AutoPilots we are just now seeing in GA. The over 50 crowd in the white shirts on the jumbos should fight it. They already have 2 or three crews on any 8+ hour flight. But for a 30 year old to be flying 6 to less than 50 paid passengers with some sort of assistant on call the risk is about the same. The commuters just dont have the profit margin to support being the minor leagues with deep bench anymore.
The cockpit is locked and no one from outside can get in. So if the pilot is incapable of operating the plane then it won’t matter if there is a plane full of pilots...everyone dies.
The plane will land itself.
Pretty much everything involved with flying passenger jets has become computerized. Really, the pilots taxi to the runway and push a button and that's about it. They spend the rest of the flight monitoring gauges and taking naps.
Passenger liners could operate entirely unmanned except the flying public is not ready at this time to accept pilotless airplanes.
One of the flight attendants, I suppose. Or maybe one of the passengers.
And of he has a heart attack?
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