Aeroflot Orders 11 Tu-214’s with Two Crew Cabin

Rostec plans to deliver 11 Tu-214 aircraft to Aeroflot in the coming years. They are being assembled at the Kazan Aviation Plant, a branch of PJSC Tupolev. According to the corporation’s head, Sergey Chemezov, the parties have signed a “firm” contract.

“For now, it’s just for 11 aircraft. We’re currently working out the delivery timelines. In the future, they certainly want more,” Chemezov said in an interview with RBC. He clarified that the aircraft still required some modifications. The customers want to convert the planes from their current three-member crew design to a two-member crew configuration. Work in this direction is underway.

At present, KAZ can supply airlines with aircraft operated by two pilots and a flight engineer. Major international aircraft manufacturers have eliminated the flight engineer position by redesigning aircraft cockpits. They took this step to reduce crew costs and increase operational efficiency.

To recall, in early June 2024, Aeroflot CEO Sergey Alexandrovsky said that due to delivery delays, the airline intends to abandon the procurement of 40 Kazan-built Tu-214s in favor of the MC-21. The delays at the Kazan Aviation Plant were caused by a shortage of personnel and a lack of necessary equipment. In April of the same year, KAZ fulfilled only about 40% of its monthly plan under the Tu-214 production program.

A month later, sources from Business Online reported that the Tu-214 aircraft for Aeroflot had disappeared from KAZ’s near-term production plans. The plant no longer considers Aeroflot its primary recipient of the first Tu-214s and has shifted focus to other customers.

At the end of March, Vedomosti reported that KAZ would not be able to build and deliver four medium-haul Tu-214 aircraft to airlines by the end of 2025. This year, the plant will complete an aircraft whose assembly began in 2024. After that, construction of a second one will begin. A shortage of engineering personnel at the enterprise is the main obstacle to the development of Tu-214 production, the source explained.

A representative of Rostec added that currently, there is no situation in which an airline has contracted a Tu-214 and is unable to receive it. According to him, two aircraft of this type are planned for delivery in 2025 — both will enter service “with commercial entities” as scheduled.

Now, let us look at the history of Tu-214 and why it did not have a 2 crew cockpit.

The Tupolev Tu-214, which was introduced in the late 1990s, had been designed to have a three-person cockpit crew: a captain, a first officer, and a flight engineer. This configuration was the norm for Russian and Soviet airliners during that era, as it was indicative of the technological constraints of avionics and automation at the time. The flight engineer was tasked with the oversight of complex onboard systems that were incapable of being entirely automated or integrated into the pilots’ workload. Although this configuration was dependable, it progressively became obsolete as global aviation standards transitioned to two-crew operations, which are more cost-effective and efficient for airlines.

Nevertheless, the Tu-204SM, a modernized and evolved version of the Tu-204 family from which the Tu-214 was derived, was developed in the late 2000s and made its inaugural flight on December 29, 2010. The Tu-204 was upgraded to meet modern international standards with the introduction of this variant, which includes a two-pilot cockpit, modern avionics, and improved passenger amenities. The Tu-204SM was designed to reduce the number of crew members from three to two by integrating advanced automation and digital flight management systems.

Following its first flight, the Tu-204SM underwent additional testing, culminating in the second prototype’s flight in August 2011. In May 2013, the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC-AR) issued the aircraft its type certificate. Nevertheless, no commercial airlines received deliveries, and no series production happened. The limited production was partially attributable to the absence of orders and the difficulties associated with substituting Western avionics and systems with Russian alternatives.

The Tu-214 has been the subject of a significant modernization initiative in recent years, which has been designed to rejuvenate the aircraft for both domestic and international markets. The transition from a three-crew to a two-crew cockpit is an important goal of this program. This necessitates substantial improvements to the aircraft control systems and avionics suite, which will enable automated management systems to assume the duties of the flight engineer. This modification is anticipated to enhance ergonomics, enhance the dependability of onboard systems, and reduce the aircraft’s weight by approximately 200 kilograms, as per Tupolev’s leadership.

The development of a two-crew Tu-214 has been officially announced. The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia publicly stated its intention to upgrade the Tu-214 to include a two-pilot cockpit. This was verified as part of a more comprehensive modernization initiative, which involves evaluating Russian-built avionics and components to replace imported systems. The initiative is being advanced by using a restored Tu-214 (registration 64509) as a testbed, with ongoing flight experiments specifically designed to certify the two-crew configuration.

The general director of Tupolev and the managing director of UAC have both stated that the Tu-214 program is actively focused on the development of a two-crew cockpit, modernization, and flight tests. The objective is to align the aircraft with contemporary industry standards and airline requirements, as the current version still necessitates three crew members in the cockpit.

The transition to a two-crew cockpit is not solely a technical enhancement; it is also a response to the current realities of the aviation labor market and airline requirements. Future orders for the Tu-214 are contingent upon the implementation of a two-pilot configuration, as there is a shortage of qualified flight engineers and a strong industry preference for two-crew operations, as stated by major Russian carriers, such as Aeroflot. The modernization program includes more extensive enhancements, including the digitalization of documentation and production processes, the reduction of redundant systems, and the use of composite materials.

These modernized systems are currently undergoing certification and flight testing on newly built Tu-214s as of late 2024. The Tu-214’s competitiveness in the present market is considered contingent upon its transition to a two-crew cockpit, which is a fundamental component of Russia’s attempts to increase domestic aircraft production and decrease its dependence on foreign technology.  The future relevance of the Tu-214 in both Russian and international aviation will be determined by the success of this modernization.