Autothrust with Autopilot OFF
Please excuse a question from a piece of SLF.
I have a question about autothrust use at landing, specifically the policies of its use with EasyJet versus those of (I believe) Lufthansa.
Re. the (late) Capt. Warren Vanderburgh, -- in his masterful lectures for American Airlines in and around 1997, where he legendarily references ‘children of the magenta’ in the context of ‘maintaining flying skills’ – in this he explains the virtue of flying with autothrust/autothrottle off, when flying with autopilot disengaged. His reasons for this practice seems to make abundant sense, even to this non-pilot.
My question is this: accepting that what he propounds is good airmanship, how does this square with use of autothrust (bringing the added benefit of Ground Speed Mini) on approach, in good visibility at the point where autopilot is disconnected? When he gives his advice, do you suppose that he is talking about other stages of flight (perhaps excluding the cruise), as opposed to approach to landing? Or is he advocating that whenever the autopilot is off, then so should be autothrust (presuming we are in an Airbus)?
I think I read somewhere that Lufthansa mandates autothrust off in manual flight, but I don’t believe this is the case with all airlines? So, following the wise words of the late Captain and acknowledging that Lufthansa know exactly what they are talking about too, does this mean that, for example, on an approach with gusting winds, a Lufthansa PF should disconnect autothrust (and so disable Ground Speed Mini*) because this is SOP, whereas an EasyJet PF will leave autothrust engaged?
If so, which airline’s policy is better airmanship or doesn’t it matter?
I pax short haul across Europe most weeks, almost always with EasyJet, so A319/20, and accordingly have enough time to be curious!
With thanks for any insight.
*I am unclear whether Ground Speed Mini existed in 1997?