The “next logical step” in commercial airplane pilot operations probably will be reducing the on-board flight crew from two pilots to one, with the remaining single pilot receiving heavy support from automated systems and other sophisticated technology, one industry training expert says.
Nevertheless, Joe Houghton, vice president for training and operations support at the Airbus Training Center in Miami, says a successful transition to single-pilot operations will depend largely on public attitudes.
“In the 1960s, we went from five people in the cockpit to three people in the cockpit,” Houghton told the World Aviation Training Summit (WATS) 2018, meeting in mid-April in Orlando, Florida, U.S., noting the disappearance from the cockpit of radio operators and navigators. Two decades later, flight engineers were phased out.
“No one thinks twice about that today,” he said. “The next logical step … is probably two to one, and having a single pilot in the cockpit.…
