Currently aircraft are becoming more and more autonomous and Crews less and less 'hands on'. The question is, will this process stop before full automation is reached?
I think is a real issue. The likes of Sully are highly experienced in hand flying aeroplanes of many types. Later generations of pilots, as the aeroplanes do more, are less so. We are beginning to see (Colgan, AF) perhaps the beginnings of the problems that might lead to. We are at a 'halfway house' right now; highly automated aeroplanes allowing pilots restricted hands-on, so if they do have to take over (especially, as with AF, under very difficult circumstances) they might not cut it.
Perhaps the insurance companies might like the industry, eventually when the technology is up to it (AF demonstrates it isn't there yet), to go the whole hog?