In the end, when you have an unusual attitude, or stall, or enter windshear/severe turbulence, etc., does the autopilot go “chirp chirp chirp” and turn itself on to take control of the plane and fix the situation? No, it's the other way around. We're supposed to be the final, catch-all backstop. But without the confidence to fly the airplane routinely and easily, how can we?
I'm a year into my first 121 (regional) job, and it's always been a normal progression for me that when I first start flying something new that's a big leap from my previous experience, I start out all nervous and intimidated (sweaty palms, fast heartbeat, tunnel visioned, etc.) and after some time in the new airplane, I get comfortable as it gets routine, i.e., it feels more like driving my car and less like doing a moon landing.
I've always taken this to be the normal progression for everybody learning a skill like this, and that the way to get comfortable is to actually do it. How else could it happen?
Well in my flying at the airline I went along this progression like I always have. I pretty quickly got confident flying visually, while still working on it in IMC. But one weird thing I noticed is that 90% of my Captains handfly 90% of their legs only below 1000 feet or so. (And below 1000 feet, what flying is there left to do? You're given the airplane configured on localizer and glideslope, with no speed changes, flap changes, leveloffs, or even turns to do.) And literally not once have I seen someone handfly in IMC. At first I thought I was seeing a disproportionate sampling, but after months it became clear that this is the consistent reality. And my impression changed from “weird” to “unsettling,” because if this is what they've been doing since day one (and if this is the example FO's are seeing from their Captains, I have no reason to think otherwise) how is anybody getting comfortable flying?
The only answer I can come up with is that they're not. Is there any other explanation?
My airline pays no diligence to the basic skill of flying the plane. I think in all of my training I was required to hand fly one approach in the sim, then was discouraged from handflying on OE and on the line. You see, it “increases workload,” as if it's not our job to be able to take on that workload. It's a phrase that increasingly makes me want to puke, along with “managing the airplane.” (Yes we're supposed to be managers of the airplane/automation, but that's on top of being able to fly it, not instead!) These phrases many times seem like a fig leaf justifying staying scared of flying the plane while ostensibly in command of it.
Is this an acceptable situation?