There's no disputing that we should hand fly as much as possible to maintain skills. The problem is that some operators actively discourage it, and operations may even prohibit it - e.g. SIDs, STARS, LNAV/VNAV approaches, Low Visibility approaches.
Chuck in a minimum number of autolands on long haul operations to keep certification going, and each pilot could be lucky to get two or three manual landings a month. And woe betide you if you ARE hand flying and exceed 0.25nm off track or 30 degrees bank angle or two knots on a speed limit - you will be in for tea and bickies with the boss, or in the case of some overseas carriers, dismissed without notice.
To their credit the FAA and manufacturers have re-thought the importance of hand flying, but mostly it is still left to simulator training to put the philosophy into practice.
The monitoring 'system' parameters are unforgiving of even quite minor transgressions on line operations, so pilots are reluctant to disconnect the automatics and play at being real (even if twice divorced) pilots.
Plenty of debate elsewhere on all this too. The points raised, as I said, are a common theme.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 7th Apr 2020 at 23:31.
Reason: typo