I owe an apology to airline pilots for having participated in the degrading of your hands on flying skills.
A generation of Test Pilots, self included, have been imbued with a common desire to make your aircraft as safe as possible for handling by the pilot with the least acceptable flying skill. Our stipulations have been that you stay within the cleared flight and handling envelopes for the type. Having essentially succeeded in the realms of safety and simplicity of handling along came the automatics which our forbears predicted would replace the pilot. You are not there yet but fairly close for a simple A to B.
Somewhere the beancounters were let loose and they promoted simulators and automatics development to the stage where you can now be certified on type by simulation. That did away with the expensive hands on training and the multitude was pleased because the revenue stayed healthy.
But reflect on what it has done to you. Many of you are now admitting to a significant lessening of hands on skills and some even reluctant to accept ATC procedures which require manual flying. Many of you are calling a simple fly by along an empty runway at less than 500 ft unsafe because you now lack the confidence in your residual skill.
I could see the shape of things to come when, way back, I had a few flights in an Airbus A300 out of Toulouse. Initially I reveled in the way that those early automatics were able to do things mostly better than I could. But then, even in those days, the resident TPs were conscious of their own hands on decline and were recommending that operators stipulate a minimum proportion of hand flying. I think Lufthansa's minimum was initially something like 30%.
I will be very selective with my future choice of airlines particularly of those which have or are allowing the development of cultures amongst their pilots who often seem intent on going somewhere to happen!
Is it time for the regulatory authorities to stop the rot by mandating minimal hand flying skills?