Airbus is looking to develop autonomous aircraft and technologies that will allow a single pilot to operate commercial jetliners, helping cut costs for carriers, chief technology officer Paul Eremenko said. "The more disruptive approach is to say maybe we can reduce the crew needs for our future aircraft," Mr Eremenko told Bloomberg Television's Yvonne Man in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. "We're pursuing single-pilot operation as a potential option and a lot of the technologies needed to make that happen has also put us on the path towards unpiloted operation." The aerospace industry has begun seeing a similar trend as the car market, where carmakers are investing in or acquiring autonomous driving startups. Plane manufacturers including Airbus and Boeing are racing to develop artificial intelligence that will one day enable computers to fly planes without human beings at the controls.