The idea of having a single pilot in the cockpit of commercial flights is controversial, but it comes back into the news from time to time. The latest to raise the hypothesis is Russia, where the Ministry of Industry and Trade has said it plans to replace co-pilots on passenger and cargo aircraft with a virtual counterpart, thus reducing operating costs.
Already as part of this plan, on August 9 the Russian government issued a $49 million tender for the development of such technology, the Vedomosti daily reported. Analysis of the latest local scientific studies on the use of artificial intelligence in aviation predicts that the transition to a single-person crew on commercial aircraft will be possible as early as the 2030s, the text of the tender notes.
According to our media partner Aeroin, the successful bidder must start work in 2022 and must create a virtual co-pilot working model «based on a realistic universal cockpit model with a simulated environment.» The technology must be ready by the end of 2024.
Before that a lot must happen. According to the MoIT decree, measures need to be taken to eliminate the increased workload of the lone pilot. To this end, the cockpit information and control system, navigation and surveillance instruments and cybersecurity must be improved.
Aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus have talked about it, but none have as aggressive a timeline as Russia to have the system in testing already. How far Russia will go with this idea remains to be seen and awaited.
