First Choice Airbus SOPs

[Cruise Alt]

Are there any FCA crew out there on the airbus that can answer a question? Does the FO get to taxi under the company SOPs?
Thanks

[Localiser Green]

Admittedly "second hand" as I don't work there, but they weren't in the Air 2000 days of the late 90's / early 00's.

CP was/is a Boeing guy and liked/likes the 757 way of doing it.

On the same topic, wasn't this a big gripe of Caledonian A320 F/O's during the merger into Flying Colours? I heard they used to be able to taxi on their sector in CKT, but were prohibited from doing so post-merger with the new SOPs?

[WindSheer]

Captain does all the taxiing with FCA,regardless of who is PF.

Upon right hand seat landing, FO brings a/c down to taxi speed. CP then takes over.

:ok:

[Cruise Alt]

Thanks Windshear

[GrahamK]

Ok, Im not a pilot, but why the hell does the Captain need to taxi for? Does the FO not recieve taxiing training or something??!?!!

[qwertyuiop]

On many a/c there is only one steering wheel, its on the left.

GrahamK you are correct, the F/O may never have taxied.

[XL ONE]

SOrry if this question seems strange- (i'm cabin crew) but if you have a pilot incapacitation on an a/c like the 757 on the "steering" side, what happens when you have landed? does the pilot have to move across?

[5415N]

So on a training trip for a new command , who then has to land in max x-wind conditions on a wet r/w , the poor training bod in the RHS has no tiller , that seems really clever ! . For non avaition people the customer (i.e. the airline ) chooses the fit of the a/c , a tiller on both sides is just another option .

[WindSheer]

Most modern a/c - certainly most civil jets (including the airbus as queried), have dual tillers.

Its purely a decision making thing. The captain has command over the aircraft whilst taxiing, simple as that. As we know quite a few 'taxiing incidents' occur on the ground.

Hope this helps.

[Smokie]

Hmmmm.. I have yet to hear of an airbourne Taxiing incident:D

[Scallywag]

Smokie, I fell off my seat at that. Fortunately I had finished taxying ;) otherwise there may have been an incident.

On a serious note, our company policy is to allow the F/O as much taxy practice as possible, except onto stand. After all, how else do you gain this experience ? radius of turn versus speed, nosewheel position and aircraft body length etc. The Captain will have his feet on rudder pedals and assume control immediately if required but this really is an area where F/O's should be allowed to gain confidence, especially prior to command assessment.

XL ONE, no need to worry. If it was an aircraft with only 1 tiller (757 has 2) and Captain was incapacitated, the F/O would bring the aircraft to a halt on the runway. If necessary, a tug could be attached to convey you to your stand.

[WindSheer]

Nice one smokie:p Just read back over it:ok:

[FlightDetent]

The question had been answered, so, what about BA 737? They are customised with non-standard RH nose wheel steering. Is this "just in case", or being used by RH PF to taxy?

FD.

[30W]

5415N for your information FCA doesn't OWN any aircraft (as is normal amongst UK charter airlines). The aircraft spec therefore is determined by what the Leasing Companies who order, and lease out the aircraft want to pay for.......

FCA leases from different companies, and hence not all aircraft have dual tillers. Therefore to keep the SOP's the SAME within the company the Capt taxi's at all times, 2 tillers or not.

30W

[5415N]

30W , wind your neck in ,but just for you the customer is whoever buys the a/c ( airline or leasing comp) the point is still the same , the customer chooses the fit and tries to balance safety with budget , not all the time achieving a sensible balance.

[30W]

5415N you can wind your own neck in!! Since the thread is based on FCA SOP's your 1st mail suggests that FCA have deliberately chosen not to have a second tiller.

I can assure you this is not the case, since our leasing agents are the 'customer' then it's not FCA who has the final say as to config.

I agree fully with you however that the right compromise is often not reached - sadly!!

30W