I don't doubt that eventually we will get to the point that AI-operated aircraft are safer and more efficient than human-piloted ones. At that point in history, though, you will be able to say the same about virtually every other human endeavour. Anything we could do would be better done by machine intelligences.
In the cockpit automation is on the rise but the human part of it is still necessary for unforeseen situations and interacting with other humans. I don't see this changing a lot in the short to medium term, very much like fusion power and strong AI were always 20 years in the future, whether the predictions were made in the 70s, 80s, 90s, etc.
This is without adding in the cost and the problem of consumer acceptance: we are still only a few steps down the road
of making a reliable self driving car
Google Car. Who wants to be first up in the Google Plane?