Originally Posted by
Musician
@DaveReid: no, I believe it isn't. The FE could be made redundant because other humans (pilots) were able to take over their task that automation couldn't take over. If you extend the argument (and the automation), you could maybe also eliminate the FO, but that strategy also relies on pushing some non-automated tasks onto the pilot. In any case, the pilot retains the task of supervising the automatic devices. To eliminate the pilot altogether, you have to a) automate all tasks, not just the "easy" ones, and b) do that to a degree that eliminates the need for on-board supervision, which is presently the fall-back. You can't do it in the same way (reduce workload, reduce the humans) because you have to reduce the workload to zero, moving the computer from its support role(s) into a position of responsibility. That looks like a qualitative difference with unique challenges, and while there may be some economic pressure towards achieving them, it is hard to predict when that's going to happen, if it ever does.
I didn't say eliminate the pilot, I said eliminate the on-board pilot.