On my first tandem my TI let me fly the canopy all the way to the ground. Of course he had his hands on the toggles too in case I did something wrong. I don't see it as a problem as long as the TI gives good instruction on the ground before you hop in the plane and also gives instruction under canopy at a high altitude. It is true that everyone who goes for a tandem jump has something different in mind, like me, I wanted to see if this was something I wanted to get in to doing all the time. I don't think that a person just going for a ride should flare because that is an added risk for them but if you are jumping to see if you'd like to jump all the time then yeah you should be able to flare and land. It's all part of learning for a student/ potential student but not for someone who just wants bragging rights for jumping from 13,000 feet.