john_smith bluntly put it and Goldenrivett has retorted with some evidence. I think the truth is in between. What
JS is saying is that the airbus FBW is not a big deal and I agree with him. An average pilot can easily adjust to its design. The adverse opinions about AB FBW are because it is a departure from other airplanes pilots fly. You develop certain habits, feels and clues and once on Airbus you need to relocate a few things differently. There are pilots out there who switched to Airbus straight out of flying schools and they have been flying it without fuss. They may find it difficult to adapt to conventional airplanes and not vice versa. It is a very easy airplane to fly does not demand high levels of stick rudder skills. Majority of flights get conducted routinely and even many careers end without having faced any serious abnormality and Airbus is a very good airplane for that. It has had few quirks in its protections mainly the high angle of attack protections but Airbus FBW is too good a concept to discard totally. It has its followers and popularity and there can be no doubt that Airbus is here to stay.