Brandon,
Take a look at this article I wrote, it address some of your concerns: Hand Flying at the Airlines
I do not feel that there is any threat at all from self flying airplanes. When I was a kid I was told that we would have self-driving cars by now, that certainly has not happened. Trains still have engineers, and I can tell you first hand that airplanes need two pilots. Even the drones that the military has need pilots. I really wouldn’t worry about this.
Chris