Also, when trasitioning from one type to another, the first 4 sim are raw data low level flying all the way. To ensure you get a feeling for the new airplane. This is company policy.
F-9'er: I spoke to one of your TRE's after the Asiana SFO B777 incident. He explained this stepping stone block building philosophy. Wonderful. I have always advocated, to deaf ears, that you learn first how to fly the a/c raw; then how to fly it with AFDS, then how to manage the automatics and then how to manage & handle the a/c in non-normals. Problem with that, in this cost conscious student pays for everything world, is the initial TR would be too long & too expensive. I know of some operators who have reduced the manual handling to 1.5 sessions, devices by 2 pilots. That's it, and then it's plug & play all day. Then base training, where the limited manual skills of cadets have to be revived, and then manual manipulation is discouraged on the line.
In your case, where the opposite is true, it is still considered worthwhile to offer 4 sessions, company paid, manual raw data flying to those who are converting on type; i.e. already have manual skills. Excellent and correct. Other operators are guilty of never giving their crews those manual skills in the first place.
IMHO, some companies do rely on the reliability of automatics and systems so that those missing skills are not expected to be called upon. For me that is where the debate lies. Not that all you guys should be poling around the skies Top Gunning it every where, but that when called upon you, and the company, will have the confidence you can perform as required.