Eli5: Why do pilots change altitude and speed manually even though the autopilot is on?

Question

Eli5: Why do pilots change altitude and speed manually even though the autopilot is on?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Different autopilots control different things. Some autopilots will only hold a heading, requiring the pilot to keep an eye on altitude and airspeed. It depends on how old the aircraft is and how complex the autopilot ends up being, which is all directly tied to how much money the aircraft owner wants to spend.