After the flying with the Captain that I flew with last week, who insisted on turning off all forms of guidance and automation, even when it was required, and hand flying, while alternating between staring out the window, and digging through his bag for nothing, completely ignoring the instruments, you better hope that there is never less than two people in a cockpit of a plane moving under its own power.

Besides the venting, I don't think there will ever be less than two people. There are several airliners every year that divert for one pilot being incapacitated, ie heart attack, and that alone should prevent the removal of a second pilot. Should...