The largest 121 changes you see coming

[granlistillo]

In the next 50 years? Well I see the pilot being cut out all together.

=J-

Well they got rid of the Navigator, and flight engineer... No doubt management would like to do that. The technology has been around for at least 40 years to get rid of the pilot. Maybe for some applications that make sense. However, I would really like to see the software that would have brought cactus 1549's voyage to a relatively happy outcome. Really, double engine failure what do we do now HAL?
There was a famous quote by a Marine General that Iwo Jima meant a Marine Corps for 50 years. Maybe US Airways 1549 crew might have people thinking twice before we fire the pilots.

 

[scramjet]

Unless rapid technology upgrades are made, air travel will be relegated almost exclusively to the wealthy and transoceanic travel within fifty years. Ultra efficient high speed rail will come to dominate the Eastern Seaboard and very possibly the Southwestern US and California. I highly doubt we'll ever see SSTs in airline usage, maybe for corporate type ops, but never again airlines. The efficiencies just aren't there if you ask me. The only way I think airlines will survive as entities of mass transport is by technological innovation. It seems that basic jetliner technology has not made any real leaps since the introduction of the 707 fifty years ago with the exception of the now extinct Concorde. Sure engines have been optimized, flight decks simplified in crewing, navigation effectiveness increased, and new construction techniques and materials utilized, but the basic legacy jetliner design remains and there has been almost no quantum leaps in technology. Airliners in the long run won't be able to cope with the massive hauling efficiencies of ships and trains. We're talking about 90 tons max for a widebody airliner versus 500 tons for a train and upwards of 50,000 tons for a ship. Airship technology could increase load efficiencies significantly. Some designs could lift upwards of 5,000 tons, one concept could lift upwards of 50,000. But those seem to be off the table for various reasons.

 

[scramjet]

It seems that basic jetliner technology has not made any real leaps since the introduction of the 707 fifty years ago with the exception of the now extinct Concorde. Sure engines have been optimized, flight decks simplified in crewing, navigation effectiveness increased, and new construction techniques and materials utilized, but the basic legacy jetliner design remains and there has been almost no quantum leaps in technology.

Compare that with the same 50 year timeframe from 1909-1959; the difference in level of aeronautical advancement is profound.

 

[mattp1803]

Well they got rid of the Navigator, and flight engineer... No doubt management would like to do that. The technology has been around for at least 40 years to get rid of the pilot. Maybe for some applications that make sense. However, I would really like to see the software that would have brought cactus 1549's voyage to a relatively happy outcome. Really, double engine failure what do we do now HAL?
There was a famous quote by a Marine General that Iwo Jima meant a Marine Corps for 50 years. Maybe US Airways 1549 crew might have people thinking twice before we fire the pilots.

Yeah I'm afraid HAL would result in a big FAIL if that were to happen.

 

[mshunter]

furlough

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loʊ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [fur-loh] –noun <TABLE class=luna-Ent><TBODY><TR><TD class=dnindex width=35>1.</TD><TD>Military. a vacation or leave of absence granted to an enlisted person.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=luna-Ent><TBODY><TR><TD class=dnindex width=35>2.</TD><TD>a usually temporary layoff from work: Many plant workers have been forced to go on furlough. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=luna-Ent><TBODY><TR><TD class=dnindex width=35>3.</TD><TD>a temporary leave of absence authorized for a prisoner from a penitentiary.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
lay⋅off

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-mini

Fixed it for ya!

 

[flyingmaniac]

My prediction is that the FAA will grow (funding from where?) to manage the airline business a little closer.

 

[granlistillo]

Airliners in the long run won't be able to cope with the massive hauling efficiencies of ships and trains. We're talking about 90 tons max for a widebody airliner versus 500 tons for a train and upwards of 50,000 tons for a ship. Airship technology could increase load efficiencies significantly. Some designs could lift upwards of 5,000 tons, one concept could lift upwards of 50,000. But those seem to be off the table for various reasons.

My wife and I dabble in import export (actually more than dabble it has allowed me to play FO for a year and a half without selling the casa), and fast air freight will always have a solid niche. The stuff I routinely deal with comes by ship... But with the lean supply chains, and rapid technology cycle, goods such as circuit boards, computers and anything else related would be obsolencent if not obsolete by the time the components came by ship, processed and then sent out by ship. Speed and not cost is the driving factor.

 

[Firebird2XC]

My prediction is that the FAA will grow (funding from where?) to manage the airline business a little closer.

You're right about that. Fuel taxes.

http://feeds.atwonline.com/~r/AtwDailyNews/~3/xLgeZng5_Is/story.html

 

[Roger, Roger]

I'm not a 121 pilot by any means, so take this with a grain of salt, but here are the changes I see coming.
1. I think that the FAA's outdated crew rest laws will change. Since they are government rules, it will be relatively easy for the government to do something about it (contrast with pay and commuting). Also, it has very tangible safety benefits to the general public.

2. I very much doubt that there will be significant changes to pay as a result of this. It will be a major change for the government to regulate this, and the safety benefit is relatively intangible to the general public.

 

[minitour]

Fixed it for ya!

HAHAHAHA

Nice.

-mini