Skills
Had a hell of fast descent spiral into Vienna last time I was in an Air Berlin liner. No shortage of skills here. Real airmanship. I don't want to fly with a company who values MBAs above the rest of the staff. Nor do I want to fly with a company who has brainwashed the flight deck staff into following "company policy" in direct contravention of a given situation.
Airbus had a motive behind this statement and I don't believe it was without a good reason. Maybe we will discover some research, privvy to Airbus, that may suggest that airman may be too reliant on the machine.