Originally Posted by whalesurfer

Many good points but here’s where I disagree.

As far as the certification process - it’s absolutely irrelevant. FAA is America’s most corrupt government agency. Well, let me rephrase it; the FBI holds that distinction but FAA comes next.

Just look at all the ‘exemptions’ they bless airlines and aircraft manufacturers with. You need something done? Pay the money and you’ll get an exemption. Cargo pilot rest exemption, TCAS exemptions for cargo airplanes (finally repealed), B737MAX MCAS fiasco, the list goes on. Only the FBI manages to exceed FAA’s levels of corruption and bias. So if the airlines and the manufacturers really want it - it’ll happen. Period.

Costs of modifying those jets? Peanuts! At least when comparing to the costs of pay, medicals, pensions, etc. of those “extra” pilots.

It wasn’t that long ago the Canadian authorities were in the final stages of turning a DC8 into a 2-pilot airplane. The FO seat had an extended sliding rail which went all the way to the FE position. Maybe some more senior folks here remember why it was never implemented and later adopted in the Us but all cargo airlines were following that development.



Will it happen anytime soon? No way. Our careers are ‘safe’. (A relative term, right?)
However yes, it’ll absolutely happen. We all like to cling on to what we know but with time things change. Otherwise we’d still be using rotary phones and faxing in our resume and Bitcoin wouldn't even exist..
The fact is flight engineers and navigators are long gone. One day FOs will be gone too. Few decades later the “captains” will sip their latés in their air-conditioned doublewide trailers while operating heavy jets around the world. ..and one day they’ll be gone too.