Originally Posted by
Ed Harley
This is absolutely the future. With the improvements in aircraft technologies (automation, ground based flying abilities, etc..), the perceived shortage of pilots, and the airlines ability to save pilots costs (MPL's would surely be paid less) it becomes the perfect storm of pressure on the government to make regulatory changes to existing FAR's to make this happen. The public will buy into it because most people already think that the captain is the only one that fly's the airplane so what's the difference between a "co-pilot" and an MPL crew member?
It's inevitable and I don't think that any union can really stop it.
Air France 447 demonstrated the vulnerabilities of modern FBW, GPS, and perceived reduction of pilot input when flying modern aircraft across the pond. When the 18th century pitot tube iced-up, it was up to the pilots to read thru all the bells and whistles, recognize a stall and perform a recovery that we have all been trained to do since the first day of flight training. Unfortunately, the crew (RIP) wasn't able to recognize the extremis of their flight condition through the modern ECAM/EFIS/Stall Warning and revert to old school partial panel/pitch and power to diagnose the problem.
Why revisit this tragic event? Because it demonstrates the necessity for BOTH pilots to handle any unforseen emergencies, even at cruise. In fact, the "full back stick" input from the PF was probably indicative of what a MPL may do when presented with a similar situation and relies only upon systems knowledge, 3 sims and the false sense of security that you can't stall an Airbus. It wasn't until the Capt got back in the cockpit and asked "***" in his best French, that the PF responded, "we don't know, I've had the stick all the way back the whole time". Only then did they realize what was happening, and unfortunately, it was too late.
Add in the security threat, fatigue management, CRM and the historically low mishap rate, and we have plenty of ammunition to shoot down MPL.
One hull loss would would nullify any cost savings generated by MPL! give lawyers in the U.S. a field day, and open criminal proceedings in the E.U.
Nobody wants to see that..