Freight first as jetmakers study single-pilot airplanes

SINGAPORE: Once there were three on the flight deck. Then the number of flight crew fell to two when the Boeing 757 changed the way cockpit were designed in the 1980s. Now, jetmakers are studying what it would take to go down to a single pilot, starting with cargo flights.

The motivation is simple: saving airlines tens of billions of dollars a year in pilot salaries and training costs if the change can be rolled out to passenger jets after it is demonstrated safely in the freight business.

But with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and a deliberate crash by a Germanwings pilot in the last few years, earning public trust and ensuring safety is key. The issues loom large as single-pilot flying concepts are fleshed out at the Singapore Airshow this week.

“We are studying that, and where you will first see that is probably in cargo transport, so the passenger question is off the table,” Boeing Research & Technology Vice President Charles Toups said of one-pilot operations.

It would take a “couple of decades” to persuade passengers to take a single-pilot jet, he said, adding that gaining public support for the concept would be a step-by-step process starting with proliferation of self-driving cars.

Boeing co-operates with General Motors to develop technologies for autonomous flight.Singapore Technologies Engineering´s ST Aerospace demonstrated to delegates how a cockpit could be modified for one pilot when the firm converts passenger jets to freighters.

“The interest is global,” said ST Aerospace´s chief operating officer, Jeffrey Lam said.“I think some (cargo operators) are watching each other; quite certainly if one jumps on board, you would expect the others to not want to fall behind because there´s a lot of cost savings here.