This work investigates the protracted industrial and regulatory conflict regarding the necessity of a third crew member in the cockpits of commercial jet aircraft. Nick A. Komons, a historian for the Federal Aviation Administration, utilizes internal agency records, union correspondence, and legislative testimony to analyze how technological advancements in automation clashed with labor union demands for safety and job security. The book presents a detailed framework of the shifting cockpit environment from the post-war era through the early 1980s.

Experts recognize this text as a definitive administrative history of a specific, high-stakes labor dispute in aviation. Readers frequently note the technical density of the prose, which serves as a primary resource for understanding the evolution of modern cockpit safety regulations.