Who was the journalist on this? I wonder if he knows Macaskill of the Sunday Times? He at least had the courtesy to tell us of his ideas ("airlines and morale" on prune) and ask our opinions.
I know of a few cabin staff who didn't fancy travelling with some pilots, but I'm sure they wouldn't get on board without any at all. That would mean complete self service for the pax. Seeing the free forall on ej with free seating I'd hate to think of the enviroment if there was not an "in charge" on board.
Then read the post about the windy arrivals at LHR. The autolands would have been a very hit & miss affair.
Perhaps for only cargo and the new ground effect projects that are under study it might be feasable.
For pax. No chance. The idea of only the pilot and a dog is bad enough. That means we could be an eternal cruise pilot for our whole career. Wow!
And there's always the story of the first captain's PA on a the first fully automatic flight. "Ladies & gentlemen, Captain speaking. I'm actually on the ground at your departure airfield conrtrolling things from here and can see all that is happening. Half way to your destination I shall hand over to my colleague at your asrival airfield. This is a revolutionary day and I assure you nothing can go wrong..go wrong..go wrong.. " and that's without all the mobile phones going off.