Excellent post Vonkluffen! I am going to save that in my pc. This should be shown in flight schools as part of the CRM/Air Safety lessons!
The way management see it is that pilots DONT fly the aircraft no more just monitor it, so why should they get paid $400,000 a year to "fly" it if a monkey can do it.
I beg to differ, mon frere. Try to make a monkey ditch an airplane full of people with all engines out due to bird strikes in a river with a virtually intact airframe and no serious injuries whatsoever. Try to make another monkey to land a fuel-exhausted A330 in a couple of islands in the North Atlantic after gliding for quite a significant amount of time and even circling and getting away with merely some blown tires. Or maybe a monkey could fly an hydraulic failed A300 with a wing on fire and land it with absolutely no damage? The list goes on forever...
The airplane may "fly itself" but it can't think for itself; that's when we come in.
