Recency and ability
I'm a bit stupified by some of the replies here..
It's a FACT that if you don't fly manual for a long time, you will get rusty at is. Doesn't take a lot to brush up, just a few approaches in good weather to actually feel how the lady behaves. If someone tells me that they KNOW how to fly, and they don't need to keep up their abilities, well, that sounds to me a lot more like a hotshotpilot instead of the guy who flies the plane, and thus admits that his skills will go downward if he wouldn't practise. Who to call Maverick or Iceman now??
Even if you don't agree with me on that point, what about the ''less fortunate'' guys, who never will have the chance to actually fly a jet with these new policies. Would you want to have your family on board of that flight to Hong Kong with a nice gusty crosswind, maybe windshear, and the two local guys in the front haven't really flown the thing manual before, because they weren't supposed to do so? No offence to the local guys, just wondering where the cadet will be getting his experience to become a good captain? Maybe he should go out and rent a Piper for his manual skills?
Bottomline, I think it's ridiculous to issue an FCI like this one. The sole reason we are on board of the aircraft is for when the faeces hits the fan, and then you'd better be prepared..
MR8