But they're a very key enabler. Having the potential technology (we don't) is one thing, certifying it is another. Nobody is likely to spend the vast sums required to develop the technology to certification-ready levels unless the certification authority 1) sends unambiguous signals that it's at least open to the possibility, and 2) provides a reasonably clear road-map to certification.

The FAA has no incentive whatsoever to go out on a limb with #1, and no ability whatsoever to actually do #2.

UAS certification is trivial by comparison...how often will it fall out of the sky, will it land on anyone, and is it heavy enough to hurt much? Unmanned passenger aircraft will have to not fall out of the sky.

When the time comes congress will have to direct it to happen, and fund it. It's not enough of an economic game-changer to be a priority IMO, and won't open up any new markets or benefit to the customer (other than to make them nervous).

You cannot compare it to these trends...

Small cargo drones have the potential to revolutionize (or at least add lots of fuel to the revolution) of on-demand e-commerce.

Driver-less personal cars can free up many billions of man-hours for leisure, rest, or productivity...plus reduce traffic congestion by not driving like tools.

The closest analogy is driverless trucks. There are literally millions of truck drivers in the US, and trucks will be much easier to certify than airliners. There are only about 100,000 airline pilots...the cost to certify and implement vs. the potential savings is way out of whack for the reasonable future. The airlines are certainly not making the investment, it's too long-term for their ROI tastes.