Captain Stable, Blue Eagle--
Personally do fully appreciate that the more modern types (ie; no Flight Engineer) have a high degree of automation, however I can not help to wonder just what would be the end result if, for example, a junior First Officer was to be operating a flight that had the autopilot(s) unserviceable (either fail enroute or dispatched under MEL), and the Captain was to become totally incapacitated.
Under these circumstances (yes I know an unlikely event),
would not said First Officer be at a terrible disadvantage if he/she had not developed (and kept current) reasonable hand-flying skills?
A comment last year on these forums from a younger First Officer having to hand fly a 767 back from the Med at night with autopilots unserviceable..."a nightmare really..." sure did not inspire a lot of confidence from this end.
Yes, CRM is very useful, especially on the two crew types, but in the situation I have outlined, do you not think that a high degree of hand flying skill is absolutely required?