As a ex 747-400/ 737/ A320 Trainer, and now retired playing golf... your post for me is "preaching to the choir."
1. Manufacturers: Airbus makes claims its aircraft cannot achieve. The A320 in wind-shear and a strong crosswind is a real handful. The fly by wire is always a beat behind, and it is like flying via an elastic band. The classic 737 was bomb proof in a crosswind. Boeing and the 737 Max have dropped the ball. Sadly in aviation it is not until people die in a messy accident does real change happen. Now we will have change, but it will cost Boeing an enormous amount of money and good will.
2. Innovation: I would add GPS to your group. Having scratched my way round a visual circuit, at night into Nairobi pre GPS in a 747-200... GPS is an absolute god send of safety. In Africa (and India or the middle of nowhere) to actually know where you are was a novelty. My pet hate was the non moving thrust lever on the A320. No visual queues apart from the stealthy "cyan arc." As for the side stick... the student is busily stirring in a dark corner, you have no feedback, and you cannot see what the hell is going on. The side stick is a dog turd. If you have to touch it, touch it for the shortest time possible...
3. Pilot training: The young boys and girls that came to me were excellent. Bright, intelligent and hard working. Ask them to go off piste and fly a visual circuit was mostly a step too far. The worst never hand flew unless they had to. The best... practiced whenever was appropriate. Handling skills in general were woefully inadequate. I know the trope that we should let the auto pilot take the strain, and free up capacity, but on a dark dirty night when the chips are down and chaos has unfolded, it is your handling skills that will save the day. I grew up flying single crew night mail in Scotland with no auto pilot. There is nowhere left that will give anyone that sort of baptism into aviation. So the solutions are better training, and a system that encourages pilots to practice and get better. And that cost money...
4. Automation: Back to training... and that costs money. On a day to day basis it is all very easy. Now put the same pilots into JFK at 3am in blowing snow, and then ask them to do the Canarsie to 13L with a hefty crosswind off the bay, and then the autopilot fails to capture a level off height. Now automation is trying to get you killed. If it is not simple, reliable and understandable, it should not be on an aeroplane.
5. Protections: The autopilot/ auto throttle disconnect should do what it says. Disconnect, and put the pilot in charge of a flyable aeroplane.
Those are my thoughts, and I agree with all you have said, and now I am off to play some very bad golf.
Last edited by L337; 8th Apr 2019 at 18:58.