To Autoland or not to Autoland

[JetBlueInflight]

I thought you only use ILS in bad weather

Pilots use the approach function all the time when there is an ILS. Often the autopilot isn't turned off until a few hundred feet off the
ground. In real life (not the fun of simming), why make your job more difficult when the plane will do it for you?

I read the blog of an airline Airbus captain and he hates using autoland because of how rough the landings are. He says after he
autolands he stays in the cockpit and lets the first officer say goodbye to the passengers when they leave.

Autolands on the Airbus tend to be hard for the most part because the terrain level is set below the actual terrain level (to ensure that the
a/c actually touches the ground). Because of this, the aircraft actually thinks the ground is farther away than it really is and bumps into the
ground. I've had pilots land a rough landing and then try to tell me it was an autoland so they can blame it on the aircraft. Cute idea, but
not so much.

The autoland feature on the Airbus is a great feature because if the airport has the equipment for it, it allows you to decsend down on
approach while everyone else is circling around waiting for better visability. It may be a rough landing, but it's always better than a holding
pattern!!