the very long range view
as a leisure passenger I'm frustrated now that long haul flights are very expensive, it means we can't see our relatives in the States nearly as much as we used to. So we travel lots less, and holiday close to home.
Now, if the technology moved along, and given that right now I have a 99.99999999% chance of arriving alive, then if £100 were taken off all ticket prices and I only lose a 0.0000001% chance of arriving safely (cost saving due to near zero crew including cabin crew since the plane is remote controlled) then yeah, I might well take the chance. I'd also sign an insurance disclaimer waiving my survivors right to sue given I understood the risk.
So don't poop on what is coming, which could be 747's acting like UAVs. I mean, how often is it really really really the pilots up front that pull off something heroic that an autopilot would have given up on? Not to demean the profession at all, just looking ahead to where all the roads of technical wonderlust are leading to.
G