it was actually 1947. T/O and Landing, and full route autoflight. Preprogrammed? I am going to look further. It was 65 years ago, and whether it was on wire or signal, I don't know. Impressive nonetheless. The idea is that ground will not interfere anyway, so whether it could have been interrupted by ground or not is not relevant, it was autoflight, sans "pilot". Nothing about current technology trumps the accomplishment, it was hands off, and the pilots could have been back in Gander, truly no human aboard, pilot or not.
You assume the flights will be remotely operated, they will not be, they will be remotely
monitored. Operationally independent, either way.
Would I have more confidence aboard the Jetstream? well, yeah......
Autopilot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Or are you thinking these flights will be "flown" by crew on the ground instead of in the cockpit? Why pay pilots to sit at a screen in Bumbleflick? No human is going to be present in a position of intercession. Lose the autoflight, lose the flight. We have pilots in cockpits now who cannot fly if the autopilot craps out, being on the ground makes them Sully-rific?