Ryanair Talk of Massive Aircraft Purchase and Single Pilot Ops
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary could be back in the market to buy up to 300 aircraft in a multibillion-dollar spend that could scupper investors’ hopes of future dividends from the European budget airline.
He also revealed he is writing to aviation authorities for permission to use only one pilot per flight because he says co-pilots are unnecessary in modern jets where “the computer does most of the flying now”.
Mr O’Leary said in an interview: “It would save the entire industry a fortune”, adding that trains were allowed to have one driver even though this could conceivably cause a crash in the event of a heart attack.
He said: “In 25 years with over about 10m flights, we’ve had one pilot who suffered a heart attack in flight and he landed the plane”.
He conceded that two pilots would be needed on long haul international flights but on Ryanair’s shorter trips, flight attendants could do the job of a co-pilot, who was only there to “make sure the first fella doesn’t fall asleep and knock over one of the computer controls”.
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