If you have not read Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez, you should. This fictional thriller, written last year, unfortunately seems more like reality than fiction. It portrays a vivid, all-too-real picture of what could be the outcome of these policies. Wikipedia link to book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Decision

While autopilot may be capable of landing a plane, commercial pilots still prefer to drive 'er themselves. My friend is a 737 pilot for SouthWest Airlines, and he says that he always lands manually, even in bad weather where you would think auto-pilot might have an advantage.