Seat 0A. Greetings, Indeed I see your point. If you were with an airline with multi types e.g. small/medium/large you would hopefully have learnt the basic skills before venturing to the heady heights of long-haul cockpits. While you may not have frequent opportunities to keep your hand in any chance would be grasped. At least you knew how to do it once upon a time. The real question here is that there are short-haul operators that do not encourage the acquisition and maintenance of these basic skills. Those pilots will never learn them. A few moments in the sim is not a solution; indeed there is the threat that they think they can then poll around the sky and come a cropper when attempting it.
From friends in Cathay in the old Kai Tak days I understand it was a command upgrade requirement to demonstrate a checker board visual arrival. As many SFO's were baby sitting for many months, on the 3rd seat as F/O's were being trained, their handling skills were very rusty when they arrived for a command course. For some it was one approach too far. Their once honed skills had been diluted, but at least they once had them and they could be recovered with a little effort and guidance. Never having had them it will take much longer to attain them, and in todays environment and philosophy it is not uncommon that they will always remain a magical mystery.
There are airlines that train cadets with the basic base training circuit, as per the norm. Round and round they go until BTRE is satisfied they will not give the LTC's nor pax a fright. However, they will never be allowed to perform such a circuit again on the line. Too dangerous, causes too many G/A's etc.etc. What chance have the got to hone their piloting skills. VNAV/LNAV to OM. It's a U$60m play station with a bit of Wii thrown in. Soon they'll have their own sims at home. Studying by 'flying the arm chair' will become a fact. Good game, good game, but the scores on the doors might not be attractive.