Moggie : hello again !
Its the P1 who starts the engines AND also has the RT + ground coms. Its after the selection of flaps that the RT goes to the P2.
You fail to mention the senario on a STOP. The P1 closes the thrust levers then the P2 selects reverse. If it was the Capts. sector he would close the thrust levers, the f/o would select reverse and then below 70Kts the Capt. would take the throttles back again.
Thats 3 hand over of control's in a space of a few seconds during a critical manourve only practiced every 6 months in the SIM. Not to mention the runway used during the extra reaction time.
Tell me why its a good idea for the NHP to operate the reversers in BA sop's ??
Monitored approaches were great in the 'old days' when all we had was an NDM/VOR let down with a 400' minimum or if you were very lucky a CAT1 ILS to 200'...... YES works very well in that senario, BUT this is 2001 almost every approach I do is to a CAT3 ILS, if it was 'minimums' WX I would do an autoland.
I've done one minimums no-precision approach in the last 6 years ..... thats the exception, so why not have an SOP that reverts to monitored approach on that occasion ....???
Also, in the 'real world' its not the NHP who is your 'autopilot' ... he does his own thing on many occasions ..... often disconnecting everything becuase HE feel likes it and leaving me with a 'raw' aircraft in a busy TMA ...... or calling visual without asking me as the P1.