No matter how good the Automatics are,they only operate on historical data,albeit milliseconds.They do NOT have Wifes,Children,Grandchildren,Mortgages and a bloody great yellow streak down their backs,well defined by many many years of experience,plus can they anticipate?I think not?Whatever flying in Alternate Law means,maybe it ought to be SOP on ferry flights/positioning flights that some sort of hand flying or limited Autopilot should be demonstrated.When flying Race Horses with a total value many times exceeding the value of the Aircraft,careful hand flying produced a far better ride for both the Horses and Grooms who were alowed to stand with their charges during TO/Ldgs,as one could finesse turns,power increases/decreases and make the descents barely perceptible with proper anticipation.A very well known Middle Eastern Prince often complemented our special Horse Charter Crews on their ability to maintain this standard.We were, in fact, the only Airline where Air Grooms were permitted to stand with their Mounts during the whole of the Flight.Tragic this is now long gone and handed over to the Russians!
I suspect a Pilot of todays fully Computerised/Automatic carbon fibre tubes pays little cogniscence to the famous 7 "P"s that most of us were brought up with:Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance:That used to be called Airmanship:Its now all done for you!