Airlines push for pilots to fly solo amid labor shortage

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss reports that airlines are looking to push for solo piloting in an effort to lower costs.

Video transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: All right, airlines and regulators are looking to cut costs and ease pressures from worker shortages by having just one pilot in the cockpit, instead of two. Whoever thought of this just needs to catch a clue. You have to have two pilots in a plane. I mean, come on. What are you doing here? Come on, do better. It's awful.

BRAD SMITH: It's a fail-safe, and it's such a non-conversation that it should not be a conversation. There should be two pilots. And when you think about the number of instances where we've seen even some films come about because of one pilot that, unfortunately, may be drunk or whatnot, and you know that that's not the standard. It's just those are the instances that you safeguard against, is any type of malpractice from one pilot or just not knowing how to counter a situation.

BRIAN SOZZI: Or someone dies. What if someone has a heart attack flying the plane?

BRAD SMITH: Yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: Did that happen in an airplane? I don't remember.

BRIAN SOZZI: Oh, the late '70s? I remember that.

JULIE HYMAN: Yes, but it's interesting that regulators are pushing for this. And it seems like it's a sign of desperation, right? I mean, we're seeing in so many different industries the difficulty in finding skilled workers. And so this seems to be stemming from the fact that it's difficult to find skilled pilots right now. Obviously, they've--

[BUZZER]

--got to figure out how to solve that problem.

BRAD SMITH: 18 months to two-year backlog--

JULIE HYMAN: Wow.

BRAD SMITH: --the number of pilots going through training.