Originally Posted by
deSitter
It is absurd to posit that automation and crew disconnection have increased safety.
But it is disingenuous to blame automation as the primary factor in what you term "crew disconnection". The real problem lies in the attitude of the airlines and their senior management in the endless drive to increase profits (and by extension bonuses and shareholder dividends) by cutting costs wherever possible - of which abusing automation (which despite the hyperbole has always been intended as a pilot *aid*, not a pilot replacement) is merely one facet.