One-Pilot Flights ‘Highly Unlikely,’ Says Aviation Leader—Despite Airline Lobbying Efforts

Published: 12/23/2022, 1:31:59 AM EST

Airlines in the United States have been lobbying to water down regulations that would allow for a single pilot to fly a commercial flight, driven largely by higher costs, according to a CBS News report.

This will fix pilot shortages, the airlines say, adding that technological advances have made it safe to have only one pilot in the cockpit, the report written by Peter Greenberg said.

In question is part 121 of the Aviation regulations, which states that two pilots must be present in the cockpit during flights.

A new bill is currently being introduced in Congress, requesting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) re-evaluate the section of the regulation and permit flights with only one pilot, starting with cargo aircraft, the CBS report said.

Such proposals have been scoffed at by Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association.

“Given that I was a pilot, I’d be happy to sit in one seat and take over if necessary,” said Walsh, a former captain at Ireland’s Aer Lingus reported Bloomberg on Dec. 6.

According to Walsh, just based on changes in cockpit technology since he began flying jets in 1980, any immediate change to the two-pilot rule is rendered highly unlikely.

“I don’t expect to see a move to single-pilot operation, if ever,” he said. “Certainly, I don’t see it in the next 15, 20, maybe 25 years.”

Compromise Safety

Airline pilots and unions are concerned that one-pilot flights would severely compromise safety and procedures that are tried and tested. They have argued that financial decisions should not be at the expense of overall safety.

Recent incidents corroborate their arguments, according to Greenberg in his article, where he cited serval examples such as when a plane crashed in Europe in 2015 after a co-pilot from the airline Germanwings locked himself into the cockpit and purposely crashed the plane, killing 150 people, including himself.

Another example was when two pilots - Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles – landed their plane with 150 passengers in New York's Hudson river after an engine failed. All passengers survived.

A more recent incident occurred just a few weeks ago when on an Amercian Eagle flight to Columbus from Chicago, the pilot suddenly suffered a blackout. The plane's co-pilot, however, managed to regain control of the aircraft and issue a mayday call.

It is not just an issue for the United States. To date, over 40 countries have asked the international governing body overseeing the regulations to consider implementing a single-pilot service, Bloomberg reported. European safety regulators are currently determining how flights with only one pilot could be engaged and safely supervised, the report sated.