The Inquisator/EPPO
I think fully automated aircraft are technically within our reach. I think they would face two major obstacles. One, development and implementation cost, and two public acceptance.
I must respectfully disagree with you on one point - and agree with you on another.
We are not even remotely close to technically replicating what a human pilot can bring to the game. There are those within my industry that would agree with you - but they, by and large, are the ones who work behind desks & computers and rely on numbers, theory, postulation and the 'art of the possible' - and almost to a man, have no actual operational experience of "Zero POB". Those of us who
do know how it works in the real world, know the practical limitations of such things, as we have dealt with them in real life day-to-day.
Where we are in agreement is on
cost. To design, build, test, certify and put into service just a
remotely piloted airliner (not 'autonomous', which is technically well beyond our reach, and not even being discussed in regulatory circles) will be EXPONENTIALLY more costly than a traditional, manned, 2-pilot Flight Deck.
And that's before you even take into account the running costs of such things, which will require
everything a manned airliner currently has, and IN ADDITON - reliable, assured, certified, broadband datalinks, and fully qualified and competent HUMAN pilots sitting in a GCS on the ground somewhere. The costs of the datalinks alone are eye-watering.
When a certain loudmouthed airline CEO gets around to doing his homework and sums (as the rest will eventually do) they will realise that the unmanned option for passenger transport simply isn't:
A) Technically possible at present, nor will it ever likely be; AND,
B) Exponentially more expensive, and therefore not commercially viable.