Role of the human operator in future commercial Reduced Crew Operations

Abstract

Reduced Crew Operations (RCO) are a longstanding concept in academia and slowly reaching into the realm of actual airline operations. However, one of the great barriers is the role definition of the future single pilot. Simply removing one of the pilots will not work - a more comprehensive approach is required. As re-certification of the flight deck will be required anyway, we are offered to unique chance to rethink flight deck operations and properly (re-)consider the role a human operator on the flight deck will perform. Lead by the question if today's pilots are still acting as pilots we present a new role definition for the future RCO flight deck operator. As an introduction, the development of the flight deck and the associated role change of the human operator from being an aviator to a manager of systems is highlighted. Subsequently an overview over existing future flight deck concepts is given, focusing on RCO oriented approaches. The development process through which the herein presented concept was created is stated in the following. First, the underlying technological, operational, and legal assumptions and limitations are summarized. After that the goals to which the concept is supposed to cater are introduced, followed by a description of the utilized development process. Hereafter, the role definition of the human operator is discussed. We envision the human operator to take over a more strategic role than today. Instead of managing individual aircraft systems the operator will be tasked with Total Mission Management (TMM), supported by advanced, more autonomous, automation. Hence, we propose to change the job title of the human operator from pilot to mission manager. A set of typical tasks of the mission manager is described positively (what they are) and negatively (what they are not). Furthermore, the question of responsibility and authority on the flight deck is answered. Eventually, existing challenges and future research efforts regarding the herein proposed concept are discussed.