While sophisticated automation is responsible for lowering the accident rate it comes with a cost. Blind reliance on automation and the inevitable degradation of pure flying skills needs to be addressed during training and not just lip service as shown by the occasional hand flown instrument approach. There are often opportunities available during routine line flying to switch off the automatic pilot and flight director and allow the pilots to hand fly. The problem is that the automatics have caused the pilots to be lazy and this in turn leads to an aversion to hand flying. Piloting skills go downhill from that point. Loss of control is now the most significant cause of fatal accidents. But airlines and regulators put that in the too hard basket. Not in my backyard they say. I doubt that trend will ever be reversed.