When airlines are in serious financial trouble, they start furloughing pilots. Airbus is working to transform the desperate measure of reducing operations costs into a sales pitch for its planes. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) claims the European aerospace giant is proposing putting a toilet in the cockpit to allow for single-pilot flying. The world’s largest pilot union is understandably pissed about the idea.
ALPA publicly shared the proposal during its 50th Board of Directors Meeting. A spokesperson said:
“They’re going to get rid of that second jumpseat behind the captain’s seat and put a toilet. Think about that for a minute. That’s no pilot ops. So, when you have to relieve yourself, there’s nobody at the controls. They’re even proposing a comm panel at that toilet so that you could look forward at the controls, at the instrumentation and if ATC calls, well, you can answer it while you’re resting on the can.”
The in-cockpit toilet and awkward radio conversations would be a crucial aspect of establishing Extended Minimum Crew Operations or eMCO. It’s a technical term to describe a commercial flight with only a single pilot. Airbus hopes eMCO-capable planes would appeal to airlines for its long-haul routes. Lengthy services typically require three or four pilots to share flight duties, allowing pilots time to sleep off-duty. With eMCO, one pilot can be alone in the cockpit while one other pilot sleeps.
Airbus could test eMCO on an A350 plane as soon as 2027, according to Paddle Your Own Kanoo. The manufacturer is adamant that the technology is ready now and that everyone else is the issue. Christian Scherer, the CEO of the commercial aircraft division at Airbus, told the Associated Press in 2019:
“This is not a matter of technology — it’s a matter of interaction with the regulators, the perception in the traveling public. When can we introduce it in large commercial aircraft? That is a matter we are discussing with regulators and customers, but technology-wise, we don’t see a hurdle.”
Airlines would be placing informed gambles when placing orders for eMCO-equipped planes. Everything depends on nothing going wrong when no one is at the controls. While Airbus can be 100 percent certain the plane will work, the pilot is always an uncontrollable variable. If the one pilot goes out like Elvis on the toilet, what happens next? The plane can’t complete an approach and land itself.
