"But these are not pilotless planes, they are remotely-piloted planes."
For most "drones", that is correct. A better example is Global Hawk which is capable of taxiing out, taking off, flying its entire mission and landing -- all autonomously.
Commercial airliners will never go to pilotless operation in a single jump. It does seem unthinkable -- today.
But in 1958 if you told the proud five-man cockpit crew (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, navigator, radio operator) on a Lockheed Constellation that one day two-engine planes with only two cockpit crew would fly 8,000-mile non-stop trans-Pacific routes carrying nearly 400 passengers, they'd think you were crazy. If you told them each of the two engines would have 115,000 pounds thrust and the plane could essentially fly the entire route and land by itself, including automatic flare, landing, braking and rollout guidance in zero-zero conditions, they'd say you were certifiable.
Just as we didn't get from four-engine propliners with a five cockpit crew to a two-engine 777-300ER with a two cockpit crew in a single jump, we won't get to "pilotless" airliners in a single jump.
It also won't be done on today's technology but in evolutionary refinements of that.
The next step might be replacing the co-pilot with an on-call flight attendant trained for contingencies. That may seem humorous today -- if you're thinking only of today's technology and procedures. Any such step would be carefully studied, then tried on a very limited basis in strictly controlled conditions while gathering data. This is similar to how ETOPS was rolled out. You didn't go from four-engine trans-Pacific routes to two engines in a single jump.
Over an extended period, much attention will be given to contingencies and redundancy. They might incorporate satellite-linked remote piloting as a contingency. Whatever the path, it will be gradual, with each incremental step studied and tested.