Fireflybob, while I agree to a point that the raw data and manual skills of the average old school guy are better than the average new guy because the old kit required those skills, while new aircraft are flown with the automatics and electronics plugged in, I also think you're comparing apples and oranges. Even within the 737 variants, operational, handling and instrument scanning complexities vary - I recently flew raw data manually on a 73-3 sim, despite not being in one for well over a decade, and it was a doddle, while the NG is much harder to hand fly and the scan is less efficient. When comparing completely different manufacturers and design ethos, rather than just a generations of the same type, then these issues are going the be enormous. I am one of those who believe that modern pilots' apparent decrease in basic skills are not just due to lack of practice in the old arts but also due to the poor design of modern aircraft with bad ergonomics and a contempt for handling characteristics; every effort is made to make the aircraft efficient, with seemingly no regard for how easy they are for the pilots to operate. The operation margins are being eroded from both ends.