Boeing reveals single-pilot planes could soon be a reality

Autonomous technology could soon do away with the need for two pilots in the cockpit of passenger jets.

Boeing has been developing technology that could allow planes with 20 or more seats to fly with just one pilot, according to a new report.

The shift, which would likely begin with cargo jets before heading to passenger planes, could help to solve the growing issue of pilot shortages.

Autonomous technology could soon do away with the need for two pilots in the cockpit of passenger jets. Boeing has been developing technology that could allow planes with 20 or more seats to fly with just one pilot, according to a new report. File photo

The FAA has long required US airlines keep two crew members in the cockpit, and a similar rule applies to passenger planes in Europe.

Boeing Vice President Steve Norlund, however, says autonomous technology could soon change this.

‘I don’t think you’ll see a pilotless aircraft of a 737 in the near future,’ Norlund told The Independent.

‘But what you may see is more automation and aiding in the cockpit, maybe a change in the crew number up in the cockpit.’

The latest comments add further support to a report from earlier this summer, which claimed the firm is examining the possibility of having reduced crew presence in the cockpit of a proposed mid-sized jet that it aims to have in service by 2025.

The plan depends on whether Boeing proceeds with a launch decision next year, according to UBS analysts.

‘You can see the drivers from both angles,’ said Graham Braithwaite, Director of Transport Systems at Britain’s Cranfield University.

The FAA has long required US airlines keep two crew members in the cockpit, and a similar rule applies to passenger planes in Europe. Boeing Vice President Steve Norlund, however, says autonomous technology could soon change this. File photo

‘The technology to fly an aircraft on automatic is brilliant. The other driver in all this is that we’re really short of pilots. They’re a very expensive resource.’

The proponents of reduced numbers in the cockpit say the move, which could begin with cargo flights, is inevitable, just as pilot numbers were cut from three to two in the 1980s when the flight engineer position was axed due to improved design on new jets like the Boeing 757.

WILL PILOTLESS PLANES BE SAFER?

Jetliners can already take off, cruise and land using their onboard flight computers and the number of pilots on a standard passenger plane has dropped to two from three over the years.

Several companies, including Boeing, are working on self-flying planes, with tests set to start this year.

A report from last year found that much of of the pilot’s job has already been automated, and ditching the pilot altogether could actually lead to safer flights.

Automated systems already use algorithms to determine if, for example, a plane is flying too low ‘and if the answer is yes, then the automation can and should stop that accident from happening.

Professor Stephen Rice, an expert in aeronautics from the University of Daytona Beach, suggested that the natural first step towards fully automated planes would be a reduction in crew numbers.

He said it looks like one of the pilots would be removed and the cockpit would be redesigned for a single pilot.

He believes there would also be a remote-control pilot on the ground in case there was an emergency.

In recent years, there have been several devastating air crashes – many of which were found to have been caused in part by the pilot.

And experts believe that improved automation could have helped to avert at least some of these disasters.

Airlines globally could save around $15 billion a year by going down to a single pilot, UBS said, and at a time of a pilot shortage this would help ensure there are enough aviators to serve a fast-growing industry.

Replacing the vast array of knobs and switches with more digital interfaces familiar to today’s teenagers could also help to shorten the amount of time it takes to train pilots, thus easing the shortage.

Ultimately, the goal would be for a fully autonomous commercial jet along the lines of a driverless car, although that technology, which requires clean-sheet jet designs from the major manufacturers, could take until 2040, according to an estimate from Thales.

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