I was under the impression that Airbus claim it is feasible for a pilot to be rated for 320 series *and* 330/340 series simultaneously. Has this ever been activated anywhere?
I believe the reason for this is that Airbus designed the Fly-By-Wire system in the A330 and A340 to respond in a similar fashion to the A320. Remember, rather than moving the control surfaces directly, FBW simply accepts that the pilot "wants to move the plane", and responds in the best way. Airbus (
AFAIK) designed the FBW in A330 and A340 to feel as light as A320, therefore making the planes feel as similar as possible.
I'm not a pilot however, so this is simple plane-spotters gossip!
Also, (
AFAIK, again) A330 and A340 have different type ratings to A320, but can be transferred from A320 within fairly lenient grounds. A340 pilots would obviously have to be trained in the four-engine theory, such as what to do in the event of a single-engine failure as one side of the plane still has 50% thrust.
Although, the Flight Augmentation Computer kicks in to balance the yaw in the event of an engine failure... oh how I love the simplicities of Airbus!
Aaron.