In a historical context, you are right. Warren Buffett once said something to the effect of, "A far-sighted capitalist would have shot down the Wright Brothers

In a historical context, you are right. Warren Buffett once said something to the effect of, "A far-sighted capitalist would have shot down the Wright Brothers" [0] More recently the combination of consolidation, less competition and lower fuel costs have created record profits. [1] [2] [3] Also, machines are already doing most of the flying. "Autopilot" comes from aviation. :-) Automatic planes are actually a less tricky problem than automatic cars, as there's much less random stuff to navigate in the air. [4] [0] http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/12/business-quotations http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/12/business-quo... [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/business/energy-environment/airlines-reap-record-profits-and-passengers-get-peanuts.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/business/energy-environmen... [2] http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2016/01/12/airline-profits-2015/78647924/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2016/01/12/airl... [3] http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/08/us-carriers-airline-industry-record-global-profits http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/08/us-carriers-... [4] http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/24/travel/autopilot-airlines/ http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/24/travel/autopilot-airlines/