A B752 CREW IN DSCNT WERE HIGH AT AN ASSIGNED XING RESTR.

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WE WERE FLYING THE BUNTS 1 ARR INTO PHL. MY FO (OF 14 YRS SVC) WAS FLYING THE ACFT. ATC HAD BEEN 'STEPPING US DOWN' AND HAD WAITED UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT TO ISSUE US A CLRNC TO FINALLY 'CROSS 35 NM WNW OF LRP VOR AT 17000 FT MSL.' MY FO BEGAN TO PUT THE RESTR INTO THE FMC. I HAD IMMEDIATELY PUT LRP INTO THE FIX PAGE OF THE FMC; AND TOLD MY FO THAT WE NEEDED TO START DOWN IMMEDIATELY. HE WAS SLOW TO START THE ACFT DOWN (ON AUTOPLT); AND HIS RATE OF DSCNT WAS INSUFFICIENT TO CAPTURE THE PROFILE; SO I TACTFULLY CALLED OUT 'DISTANCE TO GO' TO THE RESTR; AND THE 'ALT TO LOSE;' BEGINNING WITH 15 MI FROM THE FIX; DSNDING OUT OF FL230; HIGH ON PROFILE. AFTER MY SECOND SET OF CALLOUTS; MY FO MADE THE COMMENT; 'ARE YOU GETTING NERVOUS?' (WELL; YES I WAS -- I DIDN'T PARTICULARLY WANT TO BUST A RESTR OR INCUR A VIOLATION). SHORTLY THEREAFTER; ATC GAVE US A CTR FREQ CHANGE. WHEN I CHKED ON WITH THE NEW CTR FREQ; I ADVISED THE CTLR THAT WE WOULD NOT MAKE THE RESTR; AS WE WERE LEAVING FL180 FOR 17000 FT; AND 1.5 MI FROM THE RESTR (W) FIX. THE CTLR INDICATED THAT 'IT WAS NO PROB;' AS HE GAVE US A SLIGHT VECTOR. MY FO FINALLY CONFESSED THAT HE 'WAS A BIT HIGH.' NO RETRACTION OF HIS COMMENT ABOUT BEING NERVOUS; THOUGH. THIS; HOWEVER; POINTS TO AN EVER INCREASING SAFETY THREAT AND THAT IS 'AUTOMATION COMPLACENCY DELAY' AND AIRLINE TRAINING PROGRAMS; LIKE THE AIRBUS TRAINING PROGRAM; PROMOTE ALMOST TOTAL AUTOPLT USE; WITH 'NEGATIVE' RE-ENFORCEMENT IF A PLT ATTEMPTS TO RESORT TO CONVENTIONAL FLYING SKILLS; WHICH I BELIEVE STRONGLY CONTRIBUTE TO MAINTAINING A WIDER RANGE OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS; IN A BROAD SPECTRUM OF FLT ENVELOPE ENVIRONMENTS; REGULAR; CONVENTIONAL HAND FLYING SKILLS; WITHIN STANDARDIZED PROCS; SHOULD BE FINE-TUNED IN THE SIMULATOR AND THEIR PRACTICE; ENCOURAGED ON THE LINE. P.S. CRM IS A GOOD TOOL. BUT I SHOULD HAVE 'TAKEN THE AIRPLANE' AND MADE THE RESTR; EVEN WITH A 14 YR VETERAN FO.