The idea of a single pilot flying heavy jets might be gaining traction again. As online sister publication AVweb.com recently reported, “The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) filed a working paper with ICAO [the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization] on Monday asking that the structure be developed for ‘a safe and globally harmonized introduction of commercial air transport (CAT) operations of large aeroplanes with optimised crew/single-pilot operations while ensuring an equivalent or higher level of safety compared to that achieved in current operations.’”
The ICAO working paper is clear in its objectives. Its introduction states: “The emergence of the extended minimum-crew operations (eMCO) concept and the advent of discussions of a single-pilot operations (SiPO) concept calls upon the safety regulators to look at these factors to ensure that the enviable safety standards achieved over decades are maintained or further improved. The eMCO concept involves single-pilot operations during the cruise phase of the flight. This is distinct from SiPO involving end-to-end single-pilot. The main focus of this working paper is eMCO, although it is clear that the eMCO concept can be seen as an early step towards increased automation, ultimately leading to SiPO.”
