As the A320 is "trajectory stable" in Normal or Alternate Law it is perfectly acceptable to fly a manual approach with the autothrust engaged unlike "conventional" aircraft where the effect of thrust change will affect pitch trim and may be destabilizing. (Direct Law there is a pitch/trim couple so autothrust use is not recommended)
It is a while since I have operated the A320 but I seem to recall that the FCOM recommends use of autothrust in conditions of wind shear - has this changed? In the event of an incident when flying manual thrust in such conditions there may be an issue of liability to consider!!
Having done circa 1,800 hours on the A320 with many approaches into Funchal (before they lengthened the runway) I almost always used the autothrust during the approach since it seemed to do an excellent job at coping with windshear there. However, I am bound to say that some pilots insisted on using manual thrust for reasons which I failed to understand!
In short, my advice and experience were that it is best to use the autothrust for a manually flown approach. It is, of course, necessary to practise manual thrust for the day when failures etc occur.
Last edited by fireflybob; 4th April 2004 at 22:57.