Bipartisan letters press DOT and FAA to push back on Europe’s reduced-crew plans and keep two pilots in U.S. airline cockpits.
Why This Fight Is Back in the News
A large, bipartisan bloc on Capitol Hill just told U.S. transportation leaders to draw a hard line against Europe’s idea of flying airliners with only one pilot at times. More than 230 senators and representatives signed letters urging the Department of Transportation and the FAA to oppose “extended minimum crew operations,” the European term for letting one pilot stay on the flight deck while the other rests during cruise.
On the Senate side, Tim Sheehy and Tammy Duckworth led a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that asks the FAA to push back at ICAO, the U.N. aviation body where reduced-crew concepts are being floated. The ask is simple: keep the two-pilot standard that has underpinned modern airline safety.
The United States DOT has approved small single pilot jets including the Cessna Citation, Cirrus Vision Jet, and the Embraer Phenom 300e. The light jets and business jets use cutting edge technology like the Garmin G3000 which can automatically land when flown by a single pilot with a one touch button even handling the communications with air traffic controllers.
What Europe Is Exploring
Europe’s safety regulator, EASA, has been studying reduced-crew concepts for years under projects often labeled eMCO or SiPO. Think of it as a long-term research track that looks at technology, procedures, and human factors to see whether fewer pilots could ever be as safe as today’s norm. Recent updates have actually slowed the march. EASA paused parts of the work this summer and publicly said single-pilot airline ops are not foreseeable in the next decade. That is a very different tone from early timelines some industry observers feared.
What Congress Is Asking DOT and FAA To Do
Lawmakers want U.S. regulators to exercise leadership at ICAO and make clear that one-pilot airline ops are a non-starter unless they can meet or exceed the safety record of two pilots. The House letter even cites U.S. rules that bar airlines from operating below certified minimum crew, which for transport-category jets means two qualified pilots up front. With Bryan Bedford now serving as FAA Administrator, the letters put the request squarely on his desk too.
Where Pilot Unions Land
Pilot groups are not mincing words. ALPA calls reduced-crew schemes a solution in search of a problem and continues to campaign globally to keep two pilots on the flight deck. The union argues that automation helps, but it is not a replacement when things go sideways. ALPA’s president, Capt. Jason Ambrosi, praised the Hill’s push and urges U.S. officials to keep the standard intact in any ICAO setting.
Does Any Of This Change Your Next Flight?
Not tomorrow. Even in Europe, the research phase has hit speed bumps, and EASA’s latest public posture takes the near-term pressure off. Aircraft are designed, certified, and trained for two-pilot operations. Rewriting that reality would demand new hardware, new procedures, and proof that safety does not budge. That is a tall order, which is why you see lawmakers asking regulators to hold the line now rather than later.
Bottom Line
Two pilots up front remains the gold standard, and Washington wants to keep it that way. Europe’s research into reduced-crew operations has cooled for the moment, but the policy debate is still very real at ICAO. With Congress leaning on DOT and the FAA, and pilot unions keeping the drumbeat going, the U.S. position looks clear. If airlines want fewer pilots, they will need evidence that matches the safety record we already have. Until then, the second set of hands stays on the yoke.
