Originally Posted by
777Supremecist
This made me wonder, how much more automated are planes today compared to the past? How much more automated is an Airbus A220 compared to maybe a MD-80 or 737-200?
Perhaps you should state whether you want to compare to the MD-80 as originally certificated or to compare to it in the latest state of modification before it was retired.
The original MD-80 series aircraft had a pair of digital flight guidance computers with fail passive autoland (only one DFGC required for autoland). It also had optional single or dual HUD. That made it technologically advanced for that time.
However, it used iron vertical and direction gyros, had no GPS, had no FMS, and had no means of navigation except compass, ADF, VOR/DME, and LOC/GS.
Ask your pilot friend if that is what he was flying and what he wanted to go back to.