sevenstrokeroll;
Yep.
And IATA has introduced, (and pilot associations support!) the MCPL so the emptying/retiring ranks can fill with even less experience!
The sheer idiocy and hubris of the approach to staffing would be ironic if it weren't so risky. If the trend and the problem isn't acknowledged and recognized for what it is and the stupid industry salesmanship (and equally stupid acceptance) of automation-as-pilot isn't countered with some old-fashioned aviation common sense, the fine safety record achieved through dedication, hard work, and even investment over the last fourty years is about to be torn down and replaced with accidents where knowledge, experience and training meet the bare minimum. "MCPL", Acch!
When the going gets tough, what the h... does a pilot "know" at a 1000hrs let alone after 250hrs in the simulator for an "MCPL"? Absolutely nothing but push-and-pull and precious little of that. And where does the experience come from to command when these wonders get senior enough for the left seat, which can be months to a few years at many lo-cost start-ups and not the two decades it took me and many?
When I checked out on the 320 (from the 767) and did my promotion at the same time, we hand flew a lot, mainly because VNAV hadn't even been installed in the airplane yet. We did visuals, we learned how to actually disconnect the autothrust, (something I taught 'with a vengeance' when instructing later along with the vagaries of Idle-Open Descent), and something else was on the syllabus: Full flight control failure (ELACs, SEC's, FACs) where engine thrust, mechanical/hydraulic stab trim and mechanical/hydraulic rudder were all we had to get the thing on the ground. And we did - not pretty, but in one piece.
The problem is, too many are "comfortably numb" with success. Nothing fails like it, and nothing suceeds like failure.