It seems that not a day goes by anymore that you don't hear about the airlines cutting back on service or charging ridiculous fees for the most basic of services.
In these difficult times in the airline industry, my employer has not been exempt from those practices.
Every single day all of our employee groups are reminded of how many ways we can save our company money. As pilots, we our constantly being asked to save as much fuel as we can whether it be by taxiing on one engine, not running the APU as much, asking for shortcuts from ATC, etc.
The two largest expenses at an airline are typically labor costs and fuel.
There's only so much we can do about saving fuel....but apparently some upper level managers at my employer have found a new way to cut labor costs.
Yes, that's right. They have eliminated the First Officers position!
This is the flight deck of the future. A single pilot Boeing 757.
My "View From The Left Seat" just got a lot better!
But I will miss having someone to talk to.
With the extra space freed up in the cockpit, we have begun placing baggage where the FO's seat used to be. Of course the passengers will have to pay an added fee for that too. But what a great source of extra revenue for the company!
Okay, Okay....It's not true. The entire post is just a joke.
But if the airlines could get away with something like this, I'm sure they would.
Thanks for visiting.
For a look at some more of my photos, please aviate over to Plane & Simple.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Flight Deck Of The Future
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7 comments:
LOL Len - I'm sure you will have a few people going on this one! Wait - maybe that spot could be taken over by the blow up First Officer - as in the movie Airplane! That would be a drastic savings as well - don't have to feed him, etc :)
Hi Mark,
"Airplane", one of my favorites. I believe the blow up pilot was named Otto. You know, Otto Pilot.
I hesitated posting this just in case someone from AA sees it but then I thought, "why not?. It's just a goof. We'll see if there's any backlash.
Len
Hey, Len!
I'm perfectly fine with the idea that autopilot can fly a plane from takeoff to landing (remember aeroflot's screw-up? "a drunk pilot up front is ok, since the plane flies itself, anyway"), but I need to know someone's up there ready to act should things go south with the AP.
I understand and accept that due to the technology today it is perfectly feasible to fly a big jet (be it 757, 747 or A380) single pilot. But as a plane's systems are doubled, tripled and even quadrupled for fail-safe reasons, i NEED to know there is at least another pilot up there ready to act should things go south with both the AP and the other pilot.
Doru,
I don't know of any airliner yet that can takeoff by itself but I'm sure the day is coming.
I agree with you...the more pilots in the cockpit, the better. Makes for good job security as well.
Thanks for reading!
Len
Len,
I am truly amazed to see all these pictures and your articles. Indeed it gives me a feeling that i am flying with you.
I have only one Question, on some of your posts you have posted pictures of the runway just before taking off or landing. I wonder how do you manage to click them pics when you are busy with the checklists and such?
Hi Brahadesh,
Quite often the runway shots are taken by whomever happens to be in the jumpseat that day.
Thanks for reading.
Len
I used to fly simulators for kicks. Without AP, even a 737 is a hand full on approach. I can't imagine flying a heavy for real with only one set of hands. I know you guys are very good at multi tasking etc. but darn, there is just so much going on and so many things to watch ... I don't wanna fly in a one pilot airliner and I would be happy if the airlines went back to 727 days where there were three qualified flight officers on dec.
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