I met an Etihad 340 pilot the other night. I never met one of these before. By these I mean this guy may have been 25, he spent 2 years at their academy in Al Ain UAE where he got "about 200 hour with simulator" and he flew the C172 and the DA42. By simulator it was a procedural type only (switches, lights etc) Then he got a few hours in the A340 sim now he is in the right seat of a 340 with less then 300tt. I asked if they ever hand fly the thing. He said "company policy dictates autopilot on just after gear up and off on very short final (if at all). This is going to be the new normal. Draw your own conclusions from that.