He is suggesting that AA airline pilots are taking to the air without the confidence and proficiency to fly the aircraft! I never feel comfortable as a passenger in an airliner and this makes me even more nervous. I'm not a commercial pilot.
This part of the speech is mainly referring to lower hours first officers, who when things get tough, rely on the autopilot to get them out.
An experienced captain will realise that in certain situations, the lowest threat option is to go down a level of automation.
The comment about autothrottles is because when the autothrottle is engages, the computer will program the best use of engines for fuel/engine life, once you go manual it will ultimately cost the airline more money, but he's just reminding crews that this doesn't matter and regularly practicing full manual flying is important.