Nope the A320 was a replacement for the 727, not the 737. The 727 was a medium range narrow body aircraft optimized for 800 mile stage lengths which is where the A320 starts to shine as well. The 737 really shines at 300-500 mile range flights... Boeing walked away from the Niche of 1830 planes that they built with the 727 series.. .. .Just look at capacity 727-200 189 seats in charter. A320 in charter 180.... .. .I have flown both aircraft and the dispatch reliability is better in the 737 than the A320. as to losing an autopilot and still being catIII, who cares? The number of real cat IIIs that are done ina year is minuscule. Its been a year or two since I did one for real. Some airlines find that it cheaper not to even have Cat III and pay the diversion. Furthermore as HUDs become more popular (AA and Southwest both use em) the airplane stays CAT III with no autopilots and none of the expensive maintencance of the couplers.... .. .And as to whether or not it is easier for pilots or sexier for pilots to fly one or the other, airlines really don't care. They only care about seat mile costs. The discussion starts and stops there and for a low cost quick turn short haul airline the 737 wins.... .. .Cheers. .Wino