I've made a similar post in another thread but since this one has devolved into UAV's and lawyers I though it appropriate.

My degree background is IT and i absolutely believe the technology is there today to remove pilots from the flight decks. However the question is at what cost. Today's UAV's fill a need that is unmet by current resources. Military and law enforcement do not have the resources or $$$ to monitor war zones/border area's wih their current fleet of pilots and aircraft. Drones fill this void very well at relatively low cost. The drones are a solution to a problem without any other cost effective answer.

In order to replace (airline) pilots, the technology would have to more than offset the huge expense to implement by the lower operational costs. I know several people flying both fixed wing and helo UAV's. They are all very experienced pilots who are making 6 figure salaries flying them. Right now it wouldn't seem that the benefit isn't worth the cost for an airline application.

However, the biggest issue I see with UAV airlines is the liability question. UAV's have a higher mishap rate than manned aircraft. Even if it improves, can you imagine the lawsuit damages that would result in a crash flown by a computer (designed and implemened by tech companies with deep pockets) where hundreds of people are killed? Its not uncommon for a major crash to force airlines into bankruptcy. The same would likely happen to the first company that killed a plane load of people which is exactly what the lawyers are telling those same companies today.

This is to say nothing of the hurdles regarding public acceptance or the ability to integrate UAV's with other aircraft. There was a hearing in Congress last week that didn't go too well for the UAV proponents.