Having a pilot on board is actually a lawsuit reduction on its own. "Pilot error" is the ultimate cop-out because the guilty party is almost always dead. The Atlas accident is perfect in that the FO falsified his application to Atlas. It may seem flimsy as heck to us pilots but in a courtroom Atlas (and Amazon) can say they were the victim too.

No pilot means the blame is entirely on the airline and the manufacturer.

And that's not even beginning to talk about hacking and other kinds of sabotage this kind of thing would invite. Just recently Garmin got hit by basic ransomware attack that shut it down for 4 days. This is a very advanced technology company with quite a few mission critical divisions (including aviation). If they can be taken down by someone opening a dancing cat gif in a random email, what about your airline? Think of your average dispatcher or crew scheduler you talk to on the phone and think they have what it takes to thwart even the most basic hack?

tldr: Drones have been around for decades. I don't think technology is what's holding it back.

In pax ops: what about the seatbelt sign and cabin service when there's no return on the radar? Let ATC take responsibility? Maybe rely on the remaining pireps?

Freight haulers may have the cash flow at the moment, but I guarantee my employer won’t fork out the money for brand new A350s. Pilots flying functional Boeing products and old Airbus and Mad Dogs are way cheaper than buying a fleet of insanely automated 350s. Unless they could get them cheaper than a new -8 (or replacement for the MDs), it’s not gonna happen.

Horseless carriage!? Balderdash! It'll never happen! Who ever heard of a carriage without a horse!? Poppycock!

They aren't spending all of this money working on this thing because it's fun.

I'm curious how many man hours go in to the prep for each flight. Is the taxi route planned out before hand or is it updated by ATC in real time?

No one is saying it'll never happen. But 100% autonomy without a human backup is probably 75-100 years at least.

Pilots "launched a nationwide advertising campaign detailing the intensifying issues at their airlines and the potential risks for Amazon Prime customers." There was a website warning customers with things like "Amazon Can't Deliver" or something similar - does anyone remember?

"The Amazon Air pilots who deliver your parcels are prepared to strike"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...epared-strike/

'It's a ticking time bomb':
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...-pilots-2019-2

They get slammed for mistreating workers frequently in general as well.

"Inside the hellish workday of an Amazon warehouse employee"
https://nypost.com/2019/07/13/inside...ouse-employee/

We can only hope. Human backup already saves half the cost at one pilot and that will be well before no-pilot as you mentioned. Technology has been leap frogging these past decades which may accelerate the process, but having a “Pilot/human” scapegoat goes far as someone mentioned earlier. Lawyers may be the saving grace for once. But in the end: Offer a $25-50 ticket to the masses to get them on board initially - heck $75 any overseas destination your choice for one year Guinea Pig fee! Like this summer with $24 low fare lures it’s not incomprehensible. People traveling with garbage bags instead of suitcases. Someone will come out of the woodwork.

Cargo won’t be needing any A350s anytime soon with all the other airlines dumping aircraft around the world. From a severe lack of pax aircraft to convert to a cargo layout to an immediate feast of carcasses available worldwide. Even 747-8i’s will most likely be dropped to be parked along side the already too late to capitalize on A380. What an upside down world.

I just posted this elsewhere, but what do you see here?

https://youtu.be/piYnd_wYlT8

See whether or not a problem can be or can not be solved within a timeframe due to the amount of possibilities being introduced by every possible decision... it doesn’t matter. I see a turtle, you see a turtle, but the computer doesn’t. How can a program follow a set of routines and instructions it hasn’t been programmed to follow? Hint: it can’t. This video exploits that. Maybe one day with more machine learning breakthroughs, but not now.

Heck, if you can solve the p=np or p!=np math problem, the problem standing between computer decision making, the King of Denmark will pay you $1M. No joke.

Amazon is the new Walmart. They are constantly being slammed by all manner of groups: labor, sympathetic politicians, etc. Sales still grow every year. Until that changes they are going to keep steamrolling every industry they come in contact with.