skyhighfallguy;
Same same...we were above 10 on a high downwind in a 340, the other two guys were yakking about windsurfing; I got fed up with the lack of professionalism and disconnected the autoflight system, took both FDs off, disconnected the autothrust and told the distracted F/O to get me a visual behind the '67 on short final...they didn't even know where the airport was let alone "our traffic".
Complete, utter silence,...until touchdown. Then one said on the taxi-in, "We've NEVER seen that done before", referring to the disconnect and handflying to touchdown. I said "I know - it's about time you guys started paying attention to your profession", and left it at that.
Who knows whether they actually did...but on mentioning something about standards to the occasional slacker, I've seen "the pout" before. It used to be that mentioning something drew a "thank you" as one was always trying to improve. Not so today, apparently, (now retired).
It's a shame tho'...in my opinion having seen enough of it, this kind of tolerance comes from the bureacracy of management where the politics of advancement and advantage seem to be more important than knowing about one's real job, which is ensuring a minimum standard of behaviour including an ethical standard and duty to those behind the cockpit door. The UAL 'pull-up-yer-socks' letter said it all and while it is again a shame to see such a note, it is for everyone, not just the UAL guys and gals.