Now Trains Must Have Two-Person Crews. Will That Continue For Airplanes?

Once the Department of Transportation on Tuesday unveiled new rules requiring two-member crews on board most freight trains, three U.S. pilot unions raised the question: Can the same policy continue for aircraft?

“The DOT
DOT
has once again put safety first and re-enforced its core belief that two-person crews are critical for the safe operations of trains and planes,” said Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association “ Whether you’re on the rails or in the sky, safety should always be the top priority.

“The fundamental belief that it takes at least two crew members to operate safely is as true in freight and passenger rail as it is in aviation,” Ambrosi said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday. “We will not allow special interests to gamble with safety by eliminating the most important safety features on trains and airplanes: the people at the controls.”

Current U.S. regulations require two pilots on the flight deck in “any airplane that is type certified for more than one pilot,” as well as in “any large airplane” and “any commuter category airplane, according to the DOT.

“DOT has made it crystal clear that they understand the critical importance of having two pilots on the flight deck to ensure safety,” Ambrosi said Thursday in an email. “That’s why U.S. air travel is the safest in the world.

“However, European regulators are caving to pressure by Airbus and appear to be willing to allow reduced crew operations there, which would be a dangerous choice that we must aggressively fight back against,” Ambrosi said.

ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union with 77,000 members at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines.

Boeing
BA
so far has shown less interest in single pilot operation than Airbus, according to a presentation by a consortium of six global pilot unions that include ALPA and Allied Pilots Association. But Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has announced hopes to make flight controls on the next airplane “as close to autonomous as we can conceivably get at that stage,” the presentation said.

Allied Pilots Association, which represents 16,000 American Airlines
AAL
pilots, also praised the new rules for railroads. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg “knows the importance of having two human beings in critical safety operations,” said APA spokesman Dennis Tajer. “Having two human operating trains clearly connects to having at least two pilots in aircraft.”

Tajer said that both Airbus and Boeing “have financial managers who are trying to figure out how to squeeze money out of the aviation system by taking a pilot out of the cockpit. This is an effort to convince passengers that technology has you covered.”

The Teamsters Rail Conference celebrated the unveiling of a new federal rule that requires a minimum of two crew members on board most freight trains. IBT has a diverse membership that includes both rail workers and pilots at Allegiant, Atlas
ATCO
Air, Horizon, Omni Air and Republic.

“Requiring two crew members to operate a multi-ton freight train that is several miles long should be common sense, but now, there is thankfully a rule that mandates it,” said Mark Wallace, President of the Teamsters Rail Conference, in a prepared statement.

Teamsters’ spokesman Matt McQuaid noted, “In addition to the new two-person crew requirement for railroads, the Teamsters also support the FAA’s two-pilot minimum requirement in cockpits. In both cases, it is critical to the safety of workers and the public.”