Originally Posted by
Bellanca
Incidents like the AA captain that passed away last week are the only things keeping this from happening. As soon as the public trusts technology more than they care about warm bodies up front this will be a reality. The technology is there for this single pilot type of operation. And the technology for fully remote - piloted and even fully autonomous planes isn't far fetched.
There will always be two pilots on board an aircraft in case one dies, single pilot means single pilot at the controls. The other pilot is in the back on rest. This allows for 24+ hour continuous duty blocks, followed by two days of rest. You can reduce staffing by as much as 40% doing this especially on long haul flying.