bean counting
"over the years, beancounters et al. have sold to a wide audience that with today's technologically advanced aircraft, all you need at the pointy end is a couple of guys pushing buttons"
Not sure that this is a purely Asian or African idea. What Asia has is a very rapid expansion in aviation, so modern techniques are more prevalent. Air Asia has flown more than 220 million PAX and not lost one before. The way to determine if the bean counters are right is to look at the stats.