Once again, I echo the people saying the CA made the right decision, but think it's a little sad that hand flying an RJ would be that big of a deal. However, I do it all day every day with no AP, no FD, no FMS, down to the nuts, in the mountains, in the ice, etc. When I was furloughed from the RJ job and went to the turboprop job and heard there was no AP/FD/FMS, I nearly pooped myself and figured it was going to be impossible. Turns out it wasn't that difficult, but if I hadn't done it in years, I'd probably be pretty hesitant as well. Not once when I flew the RJ did I do anything other than get vectored onto an ILS when conditions were IMC. In the turboprop, it's pretty much 50/50 whether the airport we're at even has an ILS and if it does, vectors are often times not an option or we'll just use the arc or procedure turn to save a little time. Just because the guy wasn't comfortable doing it doesn't make him a bad pilot, and if the AP's failed in flight, I have no doubt he could have handled the situation even with extremely bad weather. How could you possibly know if you're proficient at hand flying an entire flight if you haven't done it in years? I guess maybe one of the lessons here is that you should hand fly the airplane in different situations occasionally just to remind yourself how you and the aircraft perform.