The future aka the reason they will use for cutbacks
 

I will just leave this here.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...ul-2021-06-16/

With the low level of FO/SO experience these days, it’s pretty much single pilot ops by the skipper anyway, nothing new really.

A certain invertebrate colleague told me a good 6 or 7 years ago, that CX has been in discussion with Airbus about that since about the late 2000's. So perhaps nothing actually new.

Never forget this is a company that stands for absolutely nothing but profit. Their creed about being socially responsible, environmentally responsible, providing a workplace that offers rewarding careers, the safest airline on the planet, is as shallow as their treatment of the based crew.

This is a company that was at the leading edge of the Multi Crew Pilot License (MPL) while simultaneously being involved in pilotless freighter trials. Do they believe in more crew utilising low experience but technically legal, or zero crew using technology? Or something in between?
No, they believe in profit at the expense of any worthless social responsibilities or corporate creeds.

Every one of us joined for the money. A 3-month rolling contract unmatched anywhere else. But if you sell your soul to devil, don't come crying when it's time to collect. There was always a higher element of risk compared to the nationals, compensated enough for those of us here to accept. Now the curtain falls,

Show me an exception and I''ll show someone who couldn't get hired at home.
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Not really a matter of if but when and it's hardly a surprise.

The new Falcon 10X has fully reclining seats for single pilot cruise. Maybe Next-Gen airliners will have all that built in.