Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary publicly suggested today that his company rid itself of co-pilots to keep airfare low. His response when asked about whom would fly the plane if the pilot were to become incapacitated: teach a flight attendant to land the plane.
“If the pilot has an emergency, he rings the bell, he calls her in,” O’Leary told Bloomberg Businessweek.
Media sources are regarding O’Leary’s comments as an outlandish publicity stunt, but I feel like it’s not, because as you can see here, O’Leary has one of those “I’m seriously suggesting this” smirks we’ve seen on the face of Joe Biden so many times.
If Ryanair actually decides this is the best way to save cash, here’s my concern: what happens if the pilot’s heart finally explodes with that last shot of 5-Hour Energy, rendering him unable to ring the “this is your problem now” bell? DEAD. Everybody is DEAD.
I would suggest that Ryanair keep a co-pilot and lose an attendant. They might not save as much cash, but can you put a price on not experiencing the movie Castaway? It seems like it would be simpler to teach a co-pilot how to pour coffee than to teach a flight attendant how to keep the 524 people on board the Boeing Jumbojet from the screaming fiery demise most of them are already vaguely expecting.
“Keeping a copilot and losing an attendant” is the same suggestion as “losing a copilot and certifying an attendant to fly in emergencies.”
Just a publicity stunt. The FAA wouldn’t allow it in the US, and who would fly in a,let’s just say, 757 with only one pilot.
*Not* a publicity stunt. To anyone in the know, that’s publicist-speak for covering up an embarassing slip of the lip.
In this case, it’s just another dopey CEO talkin’ big like he actually understands how things work. His brain was trying to catch up with his mouth. (and he’s not worried if the plane goes down anyway since he has that golden parachute and all…)
You guys understand that modern commercial airplanes can land on autopilot, right?
Well, given that Ryanair don’t fly in the US, the FAA don’t have a say in it one way or the other.
However, my hunch is still that it’s a publicity stunt. This is the same airline that’s floated ideas about charging people £1 for using the toilets on board, and selling £5 ‘standing room only’ air tickets. Neither of which have happened, as far as I know. They do all their own advertising, and seem to believe that any publicity is good publicity.
I can remember flying on planes that did not have co-pilots and being sold that right seat. Then getting to see the pilot fly past the airport out to sea for 20 minutes then turn back because he thought he was still crossing the sound.
They keep telling me the BA320’s can fly themselves and the pilots are only there to make us feel comfortable until that computer virus split one in three.