Two points I would like to make
1. The problem with most increases in efficiency is that it is quickly matched by your competitors too so what really happens is that the company profits don't change significantly. This has unfortunately been the trend over the past 20 years or so. There was a time when people were talking in terms of new technology delivering more leisure time for workers and a better working environment, but sadly despite huge increases in efficiency all that seems to have happened is that we're all working longer hours, under worse conditions and the only people who have shown big salary rises are the Captains of industry and Directors who vote in each others pay! For most worker bees (cabin crew, pilots, middle managers, check in staff etc) their pay has either stagnated or fallen in real terms. In the case of raising FTL's to 1000 hours per year across the board if BA implement it, so will Easyjet, Ryanair, Flybe etc etc and the net result will be more tired pilots and probably more accidents but no greater profits for BA or any other airline.
2. Secondly I would like to share my perspective having been both an airline manager and then changed career to become a pilot (though not for BA). I'm afraid that when working office hours I simply never ever felt tired (unless I had burnt the candle at both ends the night before!) and I was rarely ever in a situation where I was making very rapid decisions that required me to assimilate large amounts of information, process them and act in real time. Most complex decisions in the office were carefully considered with ample time for discussions with colleagues. Most decisions made in the office could be easily reversed too, not the case flying an airliner. I'm afraid I have more frequently felt tired at the controls since becoming a pilot and have relied on coffee etc to keep me sharp simply because constantly moving my sleep cycle around - getting up at 4am, then perhaps working the next day until 11pm etc means I rarely get a quality 8 hrs sleep.
Do we get rest-breaks like truck and train drivers? - No, today as an example I flew 4 sectors of around 1hr to 1hr 15 mins each so no sooner had you climbed up, done some fuel checks, got wx for destination, briefed the approach, set up for landing then you were back into the thick of an approach again. There was no 'quiet time' during the cruise on any of the sectors. All turnarounds were 30 mins which was barely enough time to set up for the next flight. Pee breaks had to be done after passenger boarding when all the other tasks had been completed and the crew food was as usual not nutritious or healthy. It was an 8 hour shift with no break, 4 flights, lousy food and after canvassing the crew - we had all got up at 4am having had between 5 and 6 hours sleep.
The notion that the regulations could be loosened further without compromising safety is frankly laughable. You wouldn't want a truck driver doing 8 hour shifts on 6 hours sleep without a rest stop so why expect it of airline pilots?