Well, I might very well be the old boy on your left. Retired just recently.
I flew these types of STARS frequently and I can clearly see the advantages of them. Setting the lowest altitude constraint when cleared was common practice. On the other hand there are a number of factors that kept me from really liking them. The MFS needed to be checked/programmed to the very last detail prior the starting the descend. That takes a while. A short term switch onto a different STAR usually ended in some hasty reprogramming with the result of wrong parameters entered. Been there, done that. During the descend it required a close non stop monitoring of the autoilot modes which keep changing all the time. A quick distraction could let you miss an unexpected mode change with interesting results. Been there, done that too. Setting the next altitude restraint manually continuously during descend could be a safety net to avoid a hairy situation. No big deal, actually increases the mental descend follow up.
Generally I prefered to fly the aircraft instead of watching the computer do its thing. But I may just be another dinosaur about to be extinct.
Last edited by gimbal error; 12th Jun 2021 at 20:49.