Originally Posted by tom11011

The very nature of technology would suggest we will be seeing single pilot cockpits in airliners in the near future. The pilot shortage may very well be a catalyst. It wouldn't surprise me if companies like Boeing are spending R&D dollars looking at this. IE- who will be the first to profit from this model? Boeing or Airbus. It's a threat to the status quo but ultimately the numbers will prove out its safer and more cost effective.

I think where the argument gets interesting are those situations where a procedure or checklist hasn't been created for. A computer can't hope to cope with a situation it is not programmed for, that's where the human element comes into play, the desire to survive, think out of the box creatively, and cope with situations where there is no training, only experience and judgment. Take the United Airlines / Captain Al Haynes story for example as a prime example. In that particular accident, it took more than the minimum crew to get the airplane on the ground.

In summary, I suspect the same conversations occurred back when talk of switching away from 3 crew airplanes to 2 crew was the topic of the day.