Originally Posted by El-Dog
Actually UAVs don't take the pilot out of the system - just out of the cockpit - there still a need for a "pilot" on the ground - just doesn't need flying pay and perks!!
Well, it is not just pay.
In the cockpit, there is very restricted space and weight. You cannot have huge radars mounted on a commercial aircraft, nor radars in several distant positions. A pilot on the ground might easily afford such navigational aids, as well as other luxuries of not paying for space and weight, like having several pilots and flight engineers in a roomy tower, available to assist with a plane in critical phases of flight and otherwise engaging themselves with supervising planes which are, say, cruising or holding.
So, landing is certainly a stressful phase of flight. Would a pilot like to be able to share cockpit tasks on approach with pilot/s sitting in the airport tower, capable of getting the airplane attitude data from ground instruments as well as the plane-based ones, and giving pilot input to the plane controls?