Originally Posted by
The Duke
Maybe not 5 yrs. away, but we'll probably see increased use of carbon-fiber fuselages across the board for all aircraft types and the development of single pilot flight-decks where applicable in order to cut costs. Heck, they've already gone from 4, to 3, to 2, 1 is the next logical step. The public will go for it because it will ensure cheaper tickets, which, of course, in the eyes of the consumer is always more important than safety.
Not going to happen in the near future...
Pilots are no longer the major cost-burden they were in the past.
Getting rid of the Navs and FE's was automation of jobs. Getting rid of one of the two pilots is a loss of redundancy...you can't automate pilot judgement and flexibility without human-level artificial intelligence (which is nowhere in sight). Our national regulatory structure will not (by policy) accept reductions in safety...changes must be enhance, or maintain existing safey levels.
Maybe someday, but not in our working lifetime. If it happens it will start with cargo anyway.