Aircraft manufacturers plan

Battle for the cockpit: Will the co-pilot be made redundant?

An aircraft cockpit is a highly complex workplace where most of the instruments are duplicated - for the pilot and the first officer.

(Bild: travelview - stock.adobe.com)

Pilots are up in arms against aircraft manufacturers' plans to convert the cockpit to one-person operation. The co-pilot would then be out of a job and the pilot would have more responsibility. This would make flying less safe, warns the Vice President of the Austrian Cockpit Association (ACA).

When you board a passenger plane, the situation is currently clear: there is not just the pilot in the cockpit, but a crew. The size varies depending on the type of aircraft, but a pilot never sits there alone. He is part of a technical crew, which also includes the first officer (co-pilot) and on-board technicians. There is also the cabin crew, who look after the passengers. However, Airbus and Dassault, the most important European aircraft manufacturers, now believe the time is ripe for a reduction in the cockpit crew and are dreaming of a single-pilot aircraft. The air traffic control agency EASA is already examining the idea - much to the displeasure of the pilots. Krone+ sheds light on the pros and cons.