For many pilots, this has become, almost indiscernibly, primary performance feedback. "Moving lever" autothrust systems have therefore encouraged pilots to look at the throttles/thrust levers for feedback, rather than the airspeed indicator and trend arrows. This imperceptible, but progressively learnt, behavior has lead to some strong pilot paradigms on this subject. The designers of the A319,320,321,330,340 airliners have eliminated the need to sense performance from throttle/thrust lever movement. Pilots on these types must now look directly, without distraction, at the most accurate source of feedback; aircraft performance. (We should be reminded that in one of the most critical events where feedback is essential to a pilot, engine failure just above V1, a conventional thrust lever tells a pilot that the engine is still running!)...
Thatīs really true?
I think he wanted to say just the opposite.
In this Aircraft pilots using A/THR doesnt look or look very little at the speed indicator on final approach, and I can say more, usually they look only few times at the speed tape during all the approach, and only when they select another speed in the FCU. I watch this tedency every time in the sim. They have to force to keep looking, and they are not new in the aircraft, some of them have been flying the A320 for 8 years.
In final approach they just look at the runway, because they suppose that the A/THR system is going to keep their speed within limits.
In other aircraft I didnt see this thing. Pilot looked at the speed indicators and tendency vectors, and made corrections with the throttle levers if the autothrottle was disengaged. But in this plane a lot of people have this problem or tendency.
I must recognize, when acting as PF, I have to force myself to look at the speed tape very often, because the aircraft feedback doesnt invite me to do so.
This aircraft also makes me to look very little at the engine indicators, because when in other aircraft you got a clear reference of the N1 or EPR for final approach with gear down and flaps full, and itīs normally the same, or around the same value, in this A/C the engine N1 indicators are moving everytime, because they are trying to adjusto to the speed, if not the changing Gs mini, that is very dificult to follow for the A/THR system it self. So when a look at the EICAS on a windy or turbulent day I get lost, because I only se the N1 going up and down. (I talking about standar convective turbulence, the usual that we have here in spain, when I find authentic turbulence I fly with the A/THR off because it becomes crazy)
Airbus and EADS phylosophers can present this as pure gold and the most advance system, and say and repeat time after time that you need to switch your mind to operate this aircraft, but the true is that this is not the best system for a human, or a standar trained pilot. Yes this is very advanced, probably I dont need the feedback the 80% of the time, but I need it for the other 20%, when the weather is not good or I must face strong crosswinds.
Ok. You can disconnect the throttles, but I face another problem, my company SOPīs doesnt promote the use of manual Throttles, arging that is safer to keep it automatic, because they have detected deficiencies in some approaches using manual throttles.
My company fly to dificult places, like Pamplona, La Coruņa, Bilbao, Tenerife North and La Palma. Some with short runways, in places with not so good weather, and some of them within mountains. I feeled more confortable going this places with the B757 that with the A320, but this is only my opinion.
More, the other big spanish company, Iberia, is also having problems with their big A340. They also are promoting to have the A/THR always connected, because some some of their pilots produced hard landings operating with the thrust manually, although they also had hard landings with the A/THR connected, like the one in Quito that ended with a written off aircraft. (In the Quito accident the A/THR was connected during all the approach.)
Going back to the beginning of this reply, dont tell me that the A/THR of this plane is going to solve man machine comunication problems, It has solve nothing and probalby created problems to people like me while I struggle to change my mind.
Itīs the same but different, but personally, I prefer the moving ones.