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Do Commercial Planes Need Co-Pilots?

ucfgrad93

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
19,604
10,914
Colorado
I'm trying to picture some poor lone pilot in a Ryanair 737 shooting an ILS approach to minimums, with a go-around and diversion to an alternate airport, having to deal with the weather, air traffic control and company communications, fuel planning, reprogramming the flying model simulator and setting up the next approach, and so on. Not to mention flying the damn plane. Sure, there's an autopilot, and it requires a steady stream of inputs in order to manage speed, altitude and course.

That's more or less routine. Now imagine something goes wrong. That's not a problem, though, in Michael O'Leary's view. And I quote:

"If the pilot has an emergency, he rings the bell, he calls her in."

By "her" he means a flight attendant. One extra employee on every Ryanair flight, you see, would be trained to land a plane.

I am not making this up.

http://www.salon.com/news/air_trave...h/col/smith/2010/09/08/michael_oleary_ryanair
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Fly the friendly skies.
 
By "her" he means a flight attendant. One extra employee on every Ryanair flight, you see, would be trained to land a plane.
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Nah, far better to keep two pilots but train them to pour drinks and sell perfume. For one thing, that's got to be cheaper than sending the flight attendants to pilot school.

It's a winning solution, it really is.
 
The guy's not serious. Every year he makes a stupid comment like this to draw attention to himself and it works. He's proposed charging to use the lavs and standing room only - neither of which have ever seen the light of day, and I don't think the CAA (or the other European countries' equivalents) would even let a 737 leave the ground without 2 pilots.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Nah, far better to keep two pilots but train them to pour drinks and sell perfume.
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On my recent flight, it wasn't the purser or cabin crew reminding us via onboard announcements that the duty-free carts were coming round. Personally, I think the oxygen masks should have scratch 'n sniff air deodoriser adverts on them.
 
I think he's just trying to get attention. Anyone involved in the industry knows better.
 
yg17 said:
The guy's not serious. Every year he makes a stupid comment like this to draw attention to himself and it works. He's proposed charging to use the lavs and standing room only - neither of which have ever seen the light of day, and I don't think the CAA (or the other European countries' equivalents) would even let a 737 leave the ground without 2 pilots.
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Was thinking the same thing... he says the stuff he does just to get publicity - time for the press to ignore him!
 
yg17 said:
The guy's not serious. Every year he makes a stupid comment like this to draw attention to himself and it works. He's proposed charging to use the lavs and standing room only - neither of which have ever seen the light of day, and I don't think the CAA (or the other European countries' equivalents) would even let a 737 leave the ground without 2 pilots.
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I rather liked his standing arrangement suggestion.
 
macquariumguy said:
I rather liked his standing arrangement suggestion.
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Practically though, as you probably know, it could never work. The centre of gravity of the "seat" - or backrest, as it'd become - would be so far off the floor, it'd require an awful lot of bracing. The plane would likely end up heavier.

That, and few people would like being strapped in at the ankles, waist and shoulders, as would likely be required.

Regarding only a single pilot - as was alluded to above, suggestions like this - and the standing room, and the £1 toilet charge - are nothing but publicity stunts. Ever seen the amount of work a pilot does, particularly at take-off and landing? He'll not be doing it by himself in our life time!

I'm happy they've pulled out of Belfast City airport, to be honest. They fly to so few airports from there at the moment that it's no real loss to the consumer in terms of competition, unless they used the service before. I didn't - not a fan of £30 card charges.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Nah, far better to keep two pilots but train them to pour drinks and sell perfume. For one thing, that's got to be cheaper than sending the flight attendants to pilot school.

It's a winning solution, it really is.
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Why not just install a vending machine and a drink dispenser beside the lavatories.

No flight attendants needed at all. Problem solved!
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Then who would land the plane? I don't think you've thought this one through. ;)
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otto.jpg
 
Ryanair is completely ridiculous. I flew from Paris to Glasgow, then from Liverpool to Nantes. Flight out cost €10 total, and the return fare was free, with £8 of fees. Clearly the price is interesting, but the experience was, perhaps, not worth the savings.

The airport we left from was in farmland an hour and a half outside of Paris, and was little more than a doublewide trailer with a huge driveway. Luckily they had a mini-mart that sold large cans of beer at low prices. After the finding-a-seat free for all, in flight there were ads played over the loudspeakers constantly trying to get us to buy little ketchup packets of liquor at exorbitant prices. After a landing that felt much steeper than typical, we were pleased to get off the plane which was loaded with loud, drunk chavs returning home.

The return trip was similar, but the airports were more legitimate than 'Paris - Beauvais'. In retrospect I think I'd certainly pay the 'real airline' premium for a more comfortable, quieter flight from a real airport. :p
 
Here you have it: O'Leary admits that he's full of it.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has warned of an end to bargain-basement fares as the no-frills carrier plans a shift away from its "pile it high and sell it cheap" approach.

O'Leary also said the Dublin-based airline will need a new chief executive as growth slows, admitting that his controversial management style would be out of place in a more mature business.
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link

Now the question is, will the market support a price increase and a removal of fees, or will many continue to jump only at the lowest initial cost?
 
I hold a private pilots certificate and I think it is extremely important to have at the very least 2 capable pilots on board just to monitor the radio, watch for traffic, help each other stay alert and most importantly, question any bad judgement that your fellow right or left seater has.
 
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