Handflying is a lost art. Those of us who have spent 1000s of hours beating around in all weather, summer winter, day, dark in light twins will gain not just a deep understanding of coping with weather and reading the sky but also an instinctive understanding and an ability to make judgement s on your own plus a certain amount of creative flying which wouldn't fit in the world of the airlines.
there has been too much emphasis on button pushing and automation, the nerd type computer operator more that the pilot.
we all had the image of the wise Captain from previous Eras the silver haired, fatherly figure with the knowing look in his eyes from years of experience when pilots had to be creative with the minimal navigation aids available back then.
with the automatics and nerd type pilots those skills have taken a second place as airlines have moved further away from the differences in skills and ability those pilots had to a much more set standards modern pilots hold and where pilot skills have to a certain extent been replaced by automatics.
Certain accidents have put the emphasis back towards raw handling and that can only be a good thing