Quote:
"to do what they think is in the best interest of their passengers" - and of their cargo!
In my outfit, manual flying (no AP and sometimes no FD - the aircraft has no AT) is not frowned upon - when done with reason. For instance, flying an RNAV SID at night with no AP and no FD is not always reasonable. Even the slightest deviation resulting in a noise infrigement fine could cost up to 20,000 Euros a go - methinks the Company would not be amused...
A N-1 manually-flown ILS approach also has to be demonstrated at each OPC, so better have plenty of practice in real life. As elsewhere, some of my colleagues prefer to leave the AP engaged 95% of the time, while others (like me) like to hand-fly whenever possible. Remember that hand-flying (especially with FD off) increases the PNF's workload on an approach or departure, so it has to be properly briefed beforehand and done with reason.
But I agree that unfortunately, today's flying environment is not conductive to maintaining a high level of manual-flying skills, while training departments should encourage it.
Cheers
