Additional research and new technology will be needed before EASA can recommend moving forward on its concept of permitting single-pilot operations on large commercial aircraft that presently require two pilots. This was the conclusion of the EU agency in a new report on its minimum cockpit crew requirements project that has been underway since 2021.
“With the current cockpit design taken as a reference, and within the limits of the research, it was identified that an equivalent level of safety between one-pilot crew operations and the current two-crew operations cannot be sufficiently demonstrated,” said the report.
This conclusion was not unexpected because EASA had previously made clear in its January 2025 edition of the European Plan for Aviation Safety that changes to the cockpit will be needed to support any such new concept of single-pilot operations. Concentration must focus on the “development, evaluation, and deployment of such advanced flight deck technologies” before proposing single-pilot operations.
In the longer-term, EASA foresees development of a “smart cockpit” that may serve to set the basis for new operational parameters resulting from: novel workload alleviation functions; flight crew performance, alertness, and incapacitation monitoring; and a solution to prevent security threats. “However, any consideration of this will depend on the new technologies proving their safety benefit which will require detailed assessment on the basis of data and experience gained in normal two-pilot operations.”