As for chieftain flying, as some have mentioned,forget the whole concept as it is not applicable when flying transport sized aeroplanes. Even after a few years on the aeroplane the ''single pilot'' trait still stands out.
The Chieftain/Navajo point I made was in reference to raw data flying. Dozens of failures in Airbus put you back at a degraded level of automation and elemental raw data skills imperative. Of course a modern airliner is conceptually different in these potential abnormal scenarios compared to GA light twin, single pilot IFR.
Yet by practicing raw data flying , you are not only maintaining your original flying skills, you are still managing a multi-crew cockpit which is a little more capacity sapping than flying an approach with two auto pilots engaged. This raw data and basic cockpit management exercise a skills set you use in a multi failure case.
This thread is about AUTOMATION - not airline wages
I agree but again the simple point I was making was the cost of investing in the rounded pilot a deterrent to many carriers. And also, imagine the pilot shortage and consequential driving of wages if pilots had to maintain the skills past and competency in automation.
The pilot shortage and avoidance of increasing wages has in no doubt been countered by making available many people who probably shouldn't be in a airline flight deck. Or those that require a lot more investment in training from an airline to bring them up to speed.