742 and HeavyWrenchFlyer posted some thought-provoking comments.
A Line Check Airmen at this crewbase described the possibility that some future pilot new-hires might have mostly glass-c0ckpit experience. I hope I'm not quickly paired with any such new-hires (maybe next year?) unless they received adequate legs during IOE. One of our guys jumpseated recently to TYS and it was quite an eye-opener for him. The plane has some glass but no autothrottles. He told us that he was very relieved when the Captain finally took the controls, perhaps having been reluctant at first to embarass the new FO in front of an off-line guy on the jumpseat.
Can they learn to fly an old jet, with no 'glass' automation? There are many (727s) at Fedex also. Southwest pilots are supposedly trained to not use LNAV and VNAV. Their glass displays in the SWA Boeing 737-800 were designed by Boeing to indicate airspeed, VSI etc as if on round gauges.
Might one underlying problem, discussed in various ways on this thread, be caused partly because of many young pilots' reliance on automation for almost the entire flight? It might be most awkward to go on a "steam-gauge" jet from ORD to LGA or ATL-DTW, forced to navigate with a Jepp Hi Chart and the DYLYN Arrival to EWR with weather enroute. Or fly a procedure turn at Kalispell or Missoula, MT on a pitch black night.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 16th Jun 2007 at 07:25.