It's really interesting listening to pilots telling us how important they are. And they are, but the technology is not that far off where planes could fly themselves. The X-47B has already done completely autonomous flights from a carrier. Carrier ops are always touted as being the real thing.
For me the more important aspect is an economic one. Cost cutting is the most important thing for every industry. Less people, more machines. And this is one reason the economy is not recovering. There just aren't that many jobs anymore. Many jobs have been replaced by technology or by cheaper labour in China etc.
So just to take the airline industry, check in by computer, baggage loaded and tracked by machine, plane flown by computer. Same thing in nearly all industries.
Now when we are totally people-efficient, who is going to be earning a salary to be able to fly on the planes with no pilots?
