“The impression is that this project is being pushed mainly for commercial aspects,” says Paul Reuter, one of the fiercest opponents of the plans of the EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Reuter is vice president of the European Cockpit Association (ECA), the professional association for airline pilots on the continent, and in this capacity seconded to Brussels after having chaired the Association Luxembourgeoise des Pilotes de Ligne (ALPL), of which he is still a member of the Luxair section committee.

From 2027, some commercial flights could be operated by a single pilot in the cockpit, replacing the current requirement for two pilots. The incentive would come from manufacturers such as Boeing of the United States and Dassault of France. Manufacturers are motivated by the possibilities opened up in terms of remote control and autonomy of the tasks to be carried out.

“No added value for safety”

“The ALPL’s position on this issue is in line with that of all European pilots’ associations, and beyond. What’s more, we have serious reservations about the way in which manufacturers and the European safety agency seem to be approaching the problem,” says the Boeing 737 captain at Luxair, convinced that the prospects outlined will not lead to “any added value for air safety.”

Reuter explains: “The current concept of how to operate commercial flights safely is based on having at least two qualified pilots at the controls. Everything from pilot training and procedures to the technical design of airliners is based on a crew of at least two pilots. This concept has proved its worth since the advent of commercial aviation in the middle of the last century. The pilots at the controls have clearly defined roles. And complementary ones. The tried-and-tested foundation of aviation safety is based on the principle of mutual verification between the two pilots at the controls: ‘cross-checking,’ in aviation parlance. In other words, one pilot always checks what the other is doing. It is thanks to this system that commercial aviation has a robust foundation enabling pilots to share the same flight strategy, and to correct any errors or malfunctions in the onboard automatic systems.”

Multiple tasks

Mobilisation has accelerated in recent weeks. At the end of July, the ECA organised an awareness campaign at Brussels airport under the slogan ‘OneMeansNone’ (which can be summarised as ‘One pilot = zero’).

“Operating a commercial flight is a complex task that goes far beyond simply piloting or managing the aircraft,” continues Reuter. “The crew are of course responsible for the safety of the aircraft and its passengers, but they also have to manage commercial and economic aspects, the weather, the flight’s progress through the airspace and coordination with air traffic control. Not to mention possible weather deterioration at destination, possible sick passengers, technical breakdowns and other unforeseen events that are part of his daily reality... And that’s without even mentioning more serious breakdowns (fire on board, depressurisation at high altitude...), where the complexity of the tasks can quickly push the limits of a single pilot’s human performance.”

“Moreover, we can see that cruise flight, i.e., the phase of flight when manufacturers want to have a single pilot at the controls, is the one in which the most major incidents occur,” says Reuter, citing data from the EASA’s annual report published at the beginning of the summer. “For all these reasons, the ALPL and the international airline pilot community are of the opinion that the reduction to a single pilot involves serious risks and creates more perils than it claims to resolve,” he concludes.

The need for caution

However, the ALPL asserts that it is “not opposed to technological advances that could assist a crew (of at least two qualified pilots) to manage complex flight situations.” This view is partly echoed by companies operating in Luxembourg. And for those who remain cautious at this stage. “We are constantly monitoring the technological innovations proposed by manufacturers. However, the company has no plans to implement such a development,” says Air France, contacted by Paperjam. “The safety of customers and crew members is our absolute priority.”

Luxair, for its part, does not wish to make any comment. “However, we would like to stress that Luxair has every confidence in the EASA, which, following a thorough risk assessment, will approve or not any acceptable alternative means of compliance with existing regulations,” it tells us.

“The concept that is being looked at more closely is extended minimum crew operations. There is some consideration for single-pilot operations, but only for cargo aircraft. Single-pilot operations are not being considered for passenger flights at the moment,” the EASA tells the media outlet Euractiv. “The overriding consideration is that safety must not be compromised. To be approved, operations must therefore demonstrate that they are just as safe as current two-pilot operations,” insists the European authority.

Fatigue a major enemy

This episode of major turbulence is taking place against a backdrop of social tensions on the pilots’ side, to say the least, particularly when it comes to the pace of work. Last summer, the ECA conducted a survey of some 7,000 pilots from around thirty countries through the consultancy Baines Simmons. The conclusion: three out of four professionals admitted to having experienced a “micro-sleep” during a flight in the previous month. “In addition, 72.9% of pilots stated that they did not have enough rest to allow them to recover from fatigue between tasks,” the ECA stated.

“When it comes to working conditions, or more precisely flight time regulations, it’s important to know that they are based on European regulations,” says Reuter. “These regulations, although partly based on scientific principles, include a good number of provisions that give operators a great deal of flexibility in the event of unforeseen circumstances. On the face of it, this is not a problem. Except that we are finding that, increasingly, airlines are using what have been defined as ‘limits’ more as ‘productivity targets’ to be achieved. In many countries or companies where pilots are not fortunate enough to have additional protections and limits thanks to collective contracts or effective union representation, we can see that there can be real problems of fatigue. And therefore a possible negative influence on air safety.”

This article was originally published in .