Originally Posted by
Flying Binghi
Looking at the blue button on the dash in me little runabout, and what were on the dash 30 years ago, I’m thinking less than 30 years. Though agree with the two to none pilots suggestion.
Re current two pilot ops: If the argument is one pilot is enuf and the ‘electronics’ can take over if needed then why are any pilots needed?.. perhaps just in case… I’m thinking if one pilot is still required, then two are still required.
How much do we trust fully automated land vehicles? I don’t think trains are comparable, they are on rails and only go forwards or backwards and could quite easily be driverless (yet all mainline trains in the U.K. still have a driver!), it’s ok having the technology (which we probably do now) but you then have to have many years of proving this tech to the point that the public’s perception sees a paradigm shift. I wouldn’t get on a pilotless aircraft right now, and I fully understand the human factors in safety incidents.
I think single pilot operations are fine for the long-haul cruise operations where savings are made on extra crew. But I don’t see it becoming a thing in the mainstream commercial aviation sector in the foreseeable future. Imagine insurance costs, the costs of ensuring the systems are solid and the data pipelines are secure. Won’t provide any cost savings, would probably significantly increase costs to the airline operators for many years before falling back to todays levels.
This is all without mentioning the moral aspect of increasing automation/AI.