Single-Pilot Aircraft in Commercial Air Transport Operations: A Comparison of Potential Architectures

Abstract

Single-pilot operations (SPOs) in commercial air transport present a range of benefits and challenges, but there is a need to define architectures and compare them in different operational contexts. Here, we identified various combinations of architectural decisions based on the literature, and we compared them to current operations (in different operating contexts) on a safety versus cost tradespace. Safety was defined as a function of the pilot nominal operations workload, handling of off-nominal situations, and pilot incapacitation; whereas the cost was defined as a combination of acquisition and operating costs. Our analysis suggests that different classes of aircraft (wide bodies, narrow bodies, and regional jets) have different levels of benefits and costs in moving to SPOs. The capabilities of automation need to improve drastically before the second human in the flight deck can be replaced, and this is borne out by the dominance of human-centered architectures in the tradespace. The analysis also reveals that regional aircraft may be prime candidates to move to SPOs first because most regional architectures generate positive savings.