Pilotless aeroplanes ‘could save industry £27bn’

IT SOUNDS far-fetched but airliners without a human at the controls could be flying passengers through the skies within a decade – saving airlines billions by doing away with pilots and cutting ticket prices for passengers.

Research by analysts at UBS claims pilotless aircraft could generate $35bn (£27bn) a year in savings for airlines.

The money would come not only from eliminating highly paid pilots who require expensive training, but by making aircraft safer as computers are less likely to make mistakes. US safety data attributes three quarters of accidents to human error.

Aircraft flown digitally could also use less fuel and fly closer together. Finally, aircraft would be able to be used more intensively, as they would not require the rest days that pilots get.

Jarrod Castle and Celine Fornaro, UBS analysts, point out that similar “technology to remotely control military drones already exists and this could be adapted to civil applications”.

They predict that the first aircraft to embrace self-flying technology will be cargo planes, first removing one of the two pilots normally in the cockpit, then eventually replacing them. However, UBS’S survey of 8,000 people found that 54pc would not want to take a pilotless flight, even if it was cheaper, and only 17pc said they were likely to, a much lower level than those willing to travel in a driverless car.

Balpa, the British pilots’ association, also warned that when things go wrong, people want a human being in the cockpit. “Automation already supports operations but every single day pilots have to intervene when the automatics don’t do what they’re supposed to,” said Steve Landells, Balpa’s flight safety specialist.