If you agree that in a thousand years time we will have the technology for pilotless air transport then it must follow that at some point between today and 3017 the world will start planning and building them, correct? So if the technology and will to try it is here and now, does anyone objectively think that we won't see pilotless airliners in the next ten/twenty years?
What do you think navigators said when the first navigational computers appeared?
What do you think flight engineers said when the 737 etc arrived?
What do you think any human profession that was eventually replaced with automation thought at the time?
What makes you think pilots are any different?