Slim - just to correct any misunderstanding regarding the A319/320/321 type rating. It is indeed the same rating and the A319/320 are used interchangeably. Any Airbus-trained crew at easyJet (soon to be all crew once the 737 finally goes) can fly either aircraft. The A321 (we have 3 of them I believe) requires 4 sectors line training and no further sim training of any kind. That is an easyJet imposed training requirement and not an Airbus one. The A321 really only affects Gatwick and the only crews who fly it (apart from a few managers!) are ex-GB guys. At the drop of a hat we could 'train' everyone on it if required and thus far that has not proven necessary. In terms of pricing, we had the choice between Airbus and Boeing and I am led to believe that the price from Airbus was embarrassingly low. They had no low-co buyers at that stage and basically were desperate to get one. We got our A319s at a fraction of the market price.
What I think is legitimate debate is whether we should have gone for 189-seaters like yourselves instead of the 156-seaters we have in the A319. Also had we gone for 150-seaters we would only require 3 cabin crew which would have saved a fortune. Interesingly enough, our latest aircraft are A320s with 180 seats from which you can draw your own conclusions. Another factor in the decision was space on the production line at the time the offer was made. But in terms of the price we paid, Ryanair can only dream of getting their 737s on the same deal. From what I read in the press, they are finding Boeing less than receptive to the MoL customer technique of saying, "You piece of xxxx, give me your xxxxxx 737s at a quarter of their value or I will not buy any more - to be sure". Strange that Boeing think themselves above being spoken to like that - why would that be?