Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
That was an insulting description, Sky. But I think flight students should consider the possibility that within their lifetimes the right seat role may be eliminated in commercial aviation, the same way flight engineers went away in the 70s. That will happen before crewless airplanes will happen, and they'll never make a human CA into a part-time flight attendant because they are significantly different work roles and it's a huge security risk to name a few. I doubt pilotless airplanes will happen in the passenger market during our lifetimes, or those of current flight students. It could take place in the cargo market a lot sooner though, and I forecast we will see large drones within the next 30 years. If and when that technology proves safe, passenger operations will gradually adopt it. 2060 at the earliest.
I don't think it will be crew-less but rather two people up front with minimal input to the outcome of the flight.
I am sorry if you found my depiction a bit harsh but how else should it be described? Airline pilots fly to the same airports at the same time over and over again. They are trained to follow the decision tree until you run off the map and then call dispatch for further instructions. Pilots are all trained to recognize a situation and then react the same in manner every time. The goal is to standardize everyone's vocabulary and actions to match the script from the office of the director of operations. A pilots hands may be on the controls but the company is flying the plane. The more standardized the better.
SKyhigh