I agree that it would require acceptance from the traveling public that may or may not be possible to achieve. If they ever pull it off we can blame a lot of it on ourselves. We as a group have contributed to the misconception that a person is as safe in the back of an airliner as he is at home in bed. He is not!
We don't get paid for what we do, we get paid for what we CAN do!
Something I wish some in our group would consider when they make a PA saying that the "computer says" we will be in Dallas at 2:15. Does it hurt to let them believe that YOU may have had something to do with that ciphering, or the guy that won't say the dreaded fog word ("why this big jet can land itself") or calls thunderstorms "sun showers", how cute.
I'm the last one to want to alarm or dramatize but if it's fog, it's fog, if Chicago is reporting thunderstorms then there are damn thunderstorms there. I will do all I can to assure them they are safe but I won't hide the FACTS. If they are anxious because of the truth then so be it. Maybe they will have a little more respect for what we do.
I will say this. You can call me a dinosaur but I will never board a pilotless airliner. I'm all for automation but I want the reasoning and prioritizing overseen by a HUMAN. A human on board the aircraft with their own a$$ in the game!
CG