Ryanair Boss Wants to Drop Copilots!
Ryanair's ever-controversial boss has called for the second pilot to be dumped from the flight deck of aircraft to save money.
Michael O'Leary suggested air stewardesses could be trained to take over and land the plane in the event of a crisis.
The idea is the latest in a long line of cash-saving wheezes from the budget airline boss who once suggested, apparently seriously, that aircraft could fly with standing-only areas for passengers.
Mr O'Leary suggested ripping up the existing safety regime in a magazine interview.
'Why does every plane have two pilots? Really, you only need one pilot,' he said.
Suggesting flying a plane was little more difficult than playing a computer game, he said: 'Let's take out the second pilot. Let the bloody computer fly it.'
Asked what would happen if the single pilot suffered a heart attack, he said one of the cabin crew would be trained to land a plane.
'If the pilot has an emergency, he rings the bell, he calls her in. She could take over,' he told Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
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