Originally Posted by rickair7777

Automation reliable enough to allow single-pilot airliners will not happen in our working lifetimes, and probably not in our lifetimes period.

The technical challenges to achieving the needed reliability are tremendous, and center mostly around artificial intelligence capable of recognizing and responding to unforeseen events, or multiple system failures.

The problem with going single pilot is that the FAA's fundamental guiding principle on aviation safety is to accept no reduction in safety, period. Any regulatory changes must provide an equivalent or greater level of safety. Since pilots do become incapacitated occasionally, the automation must be at least as reliable (and flexible) as a human being. The flexibility is actually the hard part to achieve.

The DoD is confronting a huge reliablity issue with it's UAS's. It's OK to have low survivability with hand-launched model-airplane UAV's...they are cheap. But they have lost almost half of their predators, mostly to non-combat causes. Predators are real airplanes...they cost millions!

Also the DoD is aggressively pursuing UAS technology for combat and surveillance purposes...but not for any role involving transporting human beings.