Leaders of the world’s largest pilot organizations today announced a global coalition to prevent airlines and manufacturers from pushing ahead with plans to remove pilots from the flight deck, a profit-driven scheme that poses a significant safety risk.

Pilot representatives from the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), the European Cockpit Association (ECA), and Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) vowed to take collective action to
protect the flying public and counter an aggressive corporate-led lobbying campaign targeting regulators around the world, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

“Whether you depart from New York, San Francisco, or Atlanta bound for London, Paris,
or Tokyo, a crew of at least two qualified, experienced, trained, and rested airline pilots
is at the controls on the flight deck of your plane. Every aspect of your flight—the
aircraft, its systems, the regulations, and standards that apply to the flight, and the
procedures that pilots follow—is deliberately designed for a team working together on
the flight deck,” wrote ALPA President Capt. Jason Ambrosi, IFALPA President Capt. Jack
Netskar, and ECA President Capt. Otjan de Bruijn in a recent opinion piece.

A 2017 study by NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration identified unacceptable
safety risks posed by single-pilot flight operations, especially during abnormal events
and emergencies. Yet, some airlines and aircraft manufacturers are currently pressuring
international aviation bodies to put profits first and introduce an unacceptable level of
safety risk to commercial aviation. Professional pilots embrace and support new
technology on the flight deck that enhances safety; however, they unanimously agree
that removing skilled aviators from the flight deck—so-called reduced-crew
operations—will increase risk and compromise safety.

Despite developments in automation and improved technologies on the flight deck, two
pilots at the controls remain the most important safety features of an aircraft. Pilots
eliminate system-failure scenarios and act as a critical onboard backup for failed
systems, bridge technology gaps, and adapt in real-time and in the real environment to
unanticipated situations and emergencies. Technology, no matter how sophisticated, is
not a replacement for pilots on the flight deck.