Airbus Proposes Flight Deck Potty For Single-Pilot Ops

The Air Line Pilots Association says Airbus is proposing adding a toilet to the flight deck of its aircraft to eliminate the need for relief pilots and pave the way for single-pilot operations or Extended Minimum Crew Operations (eMCO). According to paddleyourowncanoe.com, the planemaker wants to put the open potty behind the captain's seat and perhaps install a radio console beside it so the otherwise indisposed can stay in contact with the outside world. As might be expected, pilot unions are dumping all over the plan. "Think about that for a moment; that's no-pilot ops," the publication quoted an unnamed ALPA source as saying regarding the issue at a recent meeting of its board of directors.

The technology behind single-pilot ops is well developed and tested but the wild card has always been human factors, the most vexing of which come down to sometimes unpredictable and always variable physiology. The publication says the European Aviation Safety Agency has been studying the issue from end to end, considering everything from diapers to fluid and diet restriction to relieve the problem, and deduced that none were acceptable.

The potty problem potentially arises on long haul flights operated with fewer pilots than the three or four now used. During cruise, a single pilot would be left on the flight deck alone for up to three hours while the other(s) rest. If the flying pilot gets caught short, he or she would have to wake one of the others, potentially causing a violation of crew rest mandates. Airbus apparently sees the flight deck ensuite as the answer, and the pilot potty could appear on the flight deck of a test A350 by 2027. The manufacturer says single-pilot operations could be used in freighters in the next five years.