Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, reducing cockpit workloads for pilots and generally making flying safer. But at the same time, technology has made many jobs redundant throughout all work sectors worldwide.

Imagine we are in the mid-1930s, boarding an airliner…

There is no boarding bridge. You will be walking on the airport apron to a set of stairs up to a propeller driven airliner. As you walk in, you will notice that the cockpit is open for passengers to get a glimpse in and that there are now three, possibly four people up front. Besides the captain and co-pilot, the other two people are sitting at tables, one with a number of instruments in front of him. You will also notice that above them is a clear Perspex round dome in the roof of the cockpit.

The guy with many round dials, usually in sets according to the number of engines the aircraft has, is the aircraft flight engineer. The other guy with maps, protractor and set-dividers is the navigator.

Flight engineer (FE)

Larger aircraft of the early years were designed and built with a flight engineer’s position.  Usually the flight engineer sits behind the co-pilot, facing outboard to operate a panel of switches, gauges and indicators.

The flight engineer’s job was to monitor and control the engines, fuel and hydraulic systems, 

operate throttles, aircraft lighting, pressurisation, air conditioning, electrics, engine driven generators, the auxiliary power unit, gas turbine compressor/air turbine motor (APU, GTC, ATM), ice and rain protection on engines and nacelle, window heat, probe heater, oxygen, fire and overheat protection of all systems, liquid cooling system, cooling system, forced air cooling system, and powered flying controls. He also had to control the fire suppression systems.

On the Russian Tupolev Tu-134, the flight engineer sits in the nose of the aircraft. On other western military airplanes, such as on the P-3 Orion and the C130 Hercules, flight engineers sit between, slightly aft of the pilots. On the P-3 Orion, E-6B Mercury and E-3 Sentry the FE is responsible for starting and shutting down engines at the start and end of each flight, and during in-flight shutdowns to conserve fuel.

The FE was also responsible for troubleshooting and suggesting solutions to in-flight emergencies and abnormal technical conditions, as well as computing take-off and landing data. The FE was also authorised to make and certify repairs to the aircraft when necessary.

The engineer still had to be type certified for the aircraft he flew in as a crew member. FAA type and equivalent certificates of subsequent four-engine reciprocating engine airplanes like the Boeing 307 and 377, DC-6, DC-7, Constellation and early three- and four-engine jets like the Boeing 707, 727, early 747, DC-8, DC-10, L-1011, required flight engineers.

Even the well-known Concorde, required a Flight Engineer. Unusually the four-engine propeller DC-4 did not require a flight engineer.

The 737 was designed from the outset without the need for a flight engineer, as they were never complex enough to need one, while later large two, three, and four-engine aircraft like the Airbus A300, MD-11, 747-400 were designed with sufficient automation to eliminate the position.

Navigator (flight navigators)

This position was necessary, as early navigation required maps, a sextant, protractors, set-dividers, rulers, pencils, erasers and later calculators. The dome in the cockpit roof was used by early navigators to work out the position of the aircraft relative to the stars, sun, moon and horizon. Known as celestial navigation, especially when flown over oceans or other large featureless areas where radio navigation aids were not originally available. 

Navigators were often responsible for an aircraft’s flight navigation, including its dead reckoning and celestial navigation, working out the distance and speed updates and advising the aircraft commander of estimated timing to destinations while en route, and ensuring hazards were avoided. 

The dedicated navigator’s position was discontinued and its function was assumed by dual-licensed pilot-navigators, and later by the aircraft’s primary pilots (captain and first officer), resulting in a continued downsizing in the number of aircrew positions on commercial flights. Modern electronic navigation systems like Global Navigation Satellite Systems made the civil aviation navigators redundant by the early 1980s. Some military air forces still use navigators.

So besides, these two guys, whose other job is on the line?

Co-pilot (second officer, flight officer)

This is a hotly debated position and any believe that aircraft should be able to operate as single member crew. However, problems arise if a single member becomes incapacitated and the argument is being largely ignored, in view of safety and back-up pilot concerns.

Captain (first officer)

An even hotter debate, was that airliners could be controlled from the ground, being fully automated, doing away completely with a flight crew. Cyber security concerns such as a drop in data and loss of coverage, hackers, plus computer software faults seem to have put paid to this extreme idea.

It is also believed that many passengers will refuse to fly in a flight crewless aircraft. If trains (which run on rails) need drivers, then surely aircraft will always need a flight crew.

Let’s certainly hope so.