Having chatted with simulator instructors on an old "steam-gauge" jet about going from very new to old technology while upgrading to Captain, they had a couple of points:
They have on occasion seen problems with some pilots who go from widebody FO to narrowbody Captain (even after our 25 hours min of Operating Experience-OE, when released to fly with regular FOs), especially if training on equipment which flies short legs, i.e. 20-45 minutes enroute.
The transition which causes the most difficulty regarding instrument scan seems to be for those leaving the A-320 etc PFD/ND displays back to the older layout with spread out flight instruments, (possibly from later Boeings to older gauges also?). Some pilots told me that they found the change back to older cockpits more difficult than to the newer types. It always surprises me that some pilots upgrade in a type which they never flew as First Officer. That must be an immense workload, especially if your training partner is a new-hire, who never flew it before, whether he/she has training hang-ups or not. Add that to a high chance of multiple tng periods with an 0500 show time, while briefing quickly for an 0600-1000 simulator...no way.
Incidentally, Southwest Airlines had Boeing design the displays on latest models to be round gauges (one of their pilots left to work elsewhere).
[This message has been edited by Ignition Override (edited 12 June 2001).]