Reducing air crews: the EU may not have co-pilots on airliners

IN EU There is a difficult financial situation in the aviation industry, which is trying to cut costs.

Last week, the European aerospace concern Airbus reported its profits. The numbers are mixed and the forecast for 2024 is cautious. One of the possible options being considered is reducing the number of pilots flying an airliner, that is, “enhanced minimum crew operations,” or eMCO for short.

Pilots are expressing alarm over this, warning that such a move will lead to a decrease in safety. With a correspondent euronews The President of the European Pilots Association, Otjan de Bruyn, spoke with Stefan Grobe.

Question: So, you represent more than 40 thousand pilots in 33 countries. Explain why your organization opposes eMCO.

De Bruijn: In aviation, we have redundancy and backup of all safety-critical systems. This is the philosophy underlying modern civil aviation. Let me give you an example: on large aircraft, each critical safety system is installed two or three times. This is intended to prevent a fatal failure of the entire system. Currently, most airliners are helmed by a captain and a co-pilot. That is, two pilots work as one team, which serves as a critical monitoring system for security networks. They monitor each other, detecting errors and mitigating potential dangers before they escalate.

Question: What are the risks associated with the One Pilot Only scheme?

De Bruijn: Under this concept, when a single pilot spends hours flying an aircraft during the cruise phase, he or she will need to take a break to go to the toilet. There will be no one on the flight deck during this break. But what happens, for example, if at that moment air traffic control asks the aircraft to deviate from the flight path, or if an engine fire or smoke occurs, or a collision warning appears. At this point, I, as a pilot, will no longer be responsible for the safety of my passengers, my crew and my aircraft.

Question: The single pilot concept is being assessed by the EU Aviation Safety Agency. How ready is this assessment? Have you been consulted?

De Bruijn: Over the past two years, consultations have taken place with a small group of stakeholders in which we have been involved. This is the first time in history that the European Aviation Safety Agency has begun developing regulations without the goal of addressing safety concerns. Instead, it raises a lot of security questions. We do not believe that this evaluation process is conducted independently or impartially.

Question: What about your employers, the airlines, how do they feel about this?

De Bruijn: It’s very simple. Some airlines are guided by commercial considerations and see an opportunity to save money by reducing the number of pilots on long-haul flights. Air carriers may be tempted by the prospect of gaining a competitive advantage by reducing crew numbers. However, they may be unpleasantly surprised to discover that commercial incentives are an extremely risky factor in civil aviation. And if they doubt it, they should just ask Boeing.

Source link