Originally Posted by
dr dre
That’s 30-50 years away.
30-50 years ago (70’s-90’s) airline transport was basically mostly shorthaul twin engined narrow bodied with two turbofan engines slung under swept back wings aircraft operated by two crew flying at 80% of the speed of sound doing sectors between 1-4 hours, and some wide bodied aircraft with 3-4 crew doing sectors of 8-12 hours.
Today? Mostly the same with some refinements and efficiency gains.
So not much in the way of evolutionary change.
Going down to 1 or less crew would requirement trillions of dollars spent on R&D and implementation of not only what would need to be fully autonomous aircraft but also ground infrastructure and communications links. No government in the world will do that just so some airlines can make a 1% savings on their labour costs.
The future of 2 warm bodies at the front end of an airborne craft is pretty secure for at least your child’s lifetime.
The uncertain nature is really for all employment. A lot of people, businesspeople, politicians, scientists, economists etc are saying the advances in AI and automation that will occur over the next few decades will be so immense and exponential that there will be an employment crisis. There simply won’t be nearly enough jobs to go around for all those who are willing and able to work. The nature of employment overall will change dramatically and a lot of societal norms will change.
You are basically comparing thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and metallurgy/materials with AI.
I don't think that's a valid comparison because amongst those AI is uniquely barely even in its early teens.
The trillions you mention will be spent because it will benefit multiple industries across many years, it simply won't be unique to aviation.
I would encourage the OP to consider that this interest may lead to a career in spaceflight, in combining AI with human factors, or in racing cars for entertainment because fun will never lose interest.
I cannot imagine her having an exciting career flying in commercial aviation because even if that discipline spans her working life which I really doubt, de-skilling and reduced compensation will make it thoroughly unattractive.
And personally I don't think any of that last paragraph matters.