Rat 5 I completely concur ; however it would appear that the ANC is being overlooked with task saturation - this case would be a good example - Airbus are hammering 'the basics ' which would presumably have been second nature back in ( mine as well ) the day . The horrific AF447 drives Airbus in terms of 'encouraging pilot skills ' but undoubtedly the skill level is globally reducing. Very interesting read in this month's 'Vanity Fair' with ref AF447 and the conclusion is that modern aircraft with highly developed automation are incredibly reliable but when going wrong there is the possibility that the modern pilot does not have the skill set to deal with it. I don't have the answers and don't wish to condemn the modern pilot ; as an industry we have allowed this to happen ( skill level degradation ) in tandem with the automation .We weren't all Chuck Yeagers back in the day but most had the basics of instrument flying. The blame lies in many areas not least the cost imperative so beloved of the LCCs ; although I have to accept that the safety record of the major players ( blue /orange ) are pretty impressive.
cheers