MSBbarratt said:
Conclusion: you won't find me stepping on to a pilot-less aircraft anytime soon.
I think that you've perhaps missed the point. I took the trouble to read into RoboLander (upon which Boeing is basing this) - and the idea is to snatch the initiative away from the hijackers. In the event of a cockpit invasion, RoboLander's security function kicks in and whether or not the pilots are despatched via box-cutters or otherwise:
a. in a best case scenario - the hijackers cannot wrest control from RoboLander and the a/c will be autolanded.
b. The captain/FO cannot resume onboard control unless he (the skipper) punches in a code known only to him (and if he was to do so and permit a 911 style repeat, he'd go down as the worst
quisling coward of all time - notwithstanding that his pitiful alternative might be to die a vainglorious hero death, no doubt).
c. The hijackers manage to disable RoboLander somehow and the airplane crashes harmlessly (i.e. except to all onboard - but an infinitely better outcome than 911 nevertheless).
Like it or not, we are stuck with fanatical terrorism featuring ratbags who are unafraid to die for their god. Just look at what's happening all across the Middle East today, all because of some mischief-making movie-maker. It's total mayhem.... all in the name of religion. We thought that the "Arab Spring" was all about eliminating despots and dictators. That's how it was sold to Western Democracy, but it's actually more about putting aside secularism and elevating the clerics to government complete with the rigors of Sharia Law. The heroes of that society are the martyrs and what martyrs love to do most of all is to bring down Western airplanes. 911 set the bar high for them, but now Boeing is moving it a few rungs higher - and hopefully out of reach. Fighting terrorists with technology is the best solution - apart from killing a mostly unidentifiable enemy. It's become a war where the best defence is no longer a good offence. The best defence is nowadays to remain a tech-step ahead.
RoboLander might also come in handy in the event of pilots becoming disabled (slow acting poison, gas, birdstrike, smoke in cockpit, missile etc).