The problem is the people making these policies are people that couldn't fly an airplane or hack it on the line. Our fleet manager has 25 hours in the airplane. He is a "captain" but can only fly with a line checkairman. There are all these bandages for poor airmenship, turning on the autopilot at 500' etc and few people challenge these things. What if you hit wake at 500' what about windsheer, severe turbulence etc? I'd much rather have a human at the controls than try to let a cruddy autopilot try to fly through it.
About the approach criteria. The feds and higher ups at the airlines focus so much on airspeed, but that is just one factor in landing distances. I've seen so many people be on speed and stable above 1000' but they carry too much power and float out of the touchdown zone trying to grease it on. The timing of the roundout, power reduction and flare and much more important than airspeed. I might be a couple of knots fast going over the fence but I hit the 1000' marks. I also find it amusing that the airlines complain about fuel costs but they could save millions a year if pilots could be power off to 500' instead of 1000'.
Also, we are paid to do things that are not in the books. What happens when you are shooting an ILS to 12 in MIA with the departures shut down due to storms east and south of the airport? On 1 mile final the guy who preceded you blows a tire on the rollout. Tower says you can switch to 8L or go around into the storm just southeast of the field. This happened a few weeks ago to us. We landed on 8L. If you cannot do that you have no business being at a 121 airline flying people around.
Randy Babbit has testified to congress that he is recommending pilots to hand fly more often in light of some incidents that have been related to depending too much on automation. His own POIs on the otherhand "recommend" or require depending on the airline the use of automation on these rnav departures. It would be nice if everyone at the FAA was on the same page but they all human and have their own opinions.