Lyman
Salespeople can't do anything by themselves, from whichever manufacturer, but you had line management directors (particularly in finance) looking at deregulation and casualty after casualty (Eastern/Pan Am/TWA/Sabena/Swissair).
You can't blame them for selling planes as "planes that fly themselves" and (implicitly or explicitly) save on (expensive) piloting costs, because they knew they were sowing on fertile ground. The real problem was within line management, and also the aviation regulation authorities.
To a pilot who never flies his plane at high altitude by hand, was the scenario facing AF447 ideal non-simulator practice? The position was not quickly brought under control in the first minute after A/P disconnect, and it got a whole lot harder thereafter......
Over to PJ2 on this subject....