Very good and well researched article, sky. While we all realize the financial benefits of autonomy, we have to be realistic when it comes to passenger and public safety. Planes are not cars or trains that can be brought to a controlled stop with a simple emergency brake.

Systems glitches, and even failures, are not uncommon in the most advanced aviation, banking and defense systems, while AI lacks that unique human ability to do things, even in an emergency, that they have not been programmed, learnt or taught to do,

While autonomous flight poses far less risk for the military especially in remote areas, congested urban areas have little or no space for safe landings in the event of a systems or communications failure when a ballistic parachute is not deployed , not to mention the dangers posed by turbulance and adverse wind conditions created by skyscrapers and groups of skyscrapers, in such an emergency., where the skills and training of a human pilot are needed to ensure a safe landing. While most commercial passenger jets have autopliot and autoland, non have auto takeoff for good reason.