Some opinions about following situation
Hello,I would appreciate if we could discuss following situation which occured a few weeks ago.On a longhaul flight from Europe to Asia with enlarged crew (crew coming from Europe) the First Officer was the pilot flying, and of course, the Captain was the pilot monitoring.During the approach briefing the FO explained the Captain that he will disconnect the Autothrottle for the approach for training purposes. After a rest of a few hours in the bunker the FO was feeling fit and the weather forecast for our destination was good. Before I continue I have to say that in our SOPs nothing is mentioned about the using of A/THR for the approach. We are encouraged by our training department to land the aircraft from time to time without the full automation.The Captain, after listening to the FO, said that he will not accept this. He said that no FO is allowed to fly without A/THR as long as he is the PIC. The FO asked the skipper to show him in the SOPs or in any other book the passage about the using of the A/THR. Because we were approaching our destination, the FO decided to land with the A/THR engaged to avoid any further discussions and to talk about that issue after landing with the Captain. After landing, the Captain said it was more a personel thing, it is not forbidden to switch off the A/THR according our procedures.Now here my question, is the captain authorized to decide what level of automation the FO must use and how to land the aircraft? Finally, it was more a personel thing,he was the PM and the experienced FO was PF on that leg. How far can he go? Our company procedures doesn´t say anything about it, and once again, the training department has encouraged us to fly without the full automation if the conditions are o.k.Looking forward to hear from you guys some statementsWish you always happy landingsNIK_