Originally Posted by
ignorantAndroid
Your first sentence describes how the aircraft behaves. Your second sentence describes how it's physically implemented. Both are true for both types of aircraft. The Boeings have springs, too.
I’m pretty sure the Boeing controls, like the autothrottle, are back-driven, not spring loaded. You can pull up a live page that shows the force being applied in each axis.
On the Airbus, with the sidestick in the neutral position, there will be no force on the controls irrespective of speed, attitude, etc.? On the Boeing FBW, if you are out of trim with the controls centred, you will feel a force. It’s also how the envelope protection works in manual flight: you will feel an increasing resistance to your commands (as you would go outside normal limits) but can override this with greater force.