The A/C of today are simply not designed to be manipulated manually other than in a basic fashion by a human purely in the interest of safety,
That may be true of Brand A Wally but not so of Brand B. The 777 is a delightful aeroplane to hand fly, with or without A/T.
I have flown the 787 level D sim and it is likewise delightful.
This is not about whether they
can be hand flown its about whether you're
allowed to and to want extent you
SHOULD.
Bloggs suggested we could get all the hand flying practice we need in wide bodies flying between HKG-LHR etc etc below 10000' on nice sunny days - clearly he has never flown out of HKG or into LHR.
Certainly where I am based its the easiest thing in the world to hand fly below 10000' on arrival or departure and some of us do. Its not appropriate at places like HKG,LHR,DXB etc...its just too bloody busy...and after you have stared out at the DXB/LHR/FRA sky through 'two piss holes in the snow' a few times on arrival you soon realise that the trainers were telling the truth during the initial line training when they said you wouldn't necessarily be in any fit condition to hand fly after the 8,10 or 12 hours spent getting there.
I am not even convinced that lack of raw hand flying skills is the greatest challenge our profession faces.