SFF on the A330 & A350

[SR71]

Do any airlines allow their flightdeck crews to fly both the 330 and 350 at the same time? I understand this is called Single Fleet Flying (SFF)?

I understand they comprise a common type rating and EASA requires only a Differences course for 330 pilots converting onto the 350 but, Operationally, are FinnAir, Lufthansa, Cathay finding that this works in practise?

Curiously.

[Airmann]

When one flies different fleets it's called MFF (Mixed Fleet Flying). The 330 and 350 have a common type rating but are not varienta of one other.

If anyone knows, do common type rated aircraft require that a pilot do some sort of training as per the regulators. Or can he/she just step into the other aircraft with he same ease as he would a variant.

[Veruka Salt]

We do it at Cathay. Due A330 & A350 being a ‘common type rating’, it is actually ‘single fleet flying’ (SFF), unlike the ‘mixed fleet flying’ (MFF) from A330/340 days.

[Veruka Salt]

Airmann, from memory it was an 11 day groundschool ‘footprint’ + 2 LFUS and 2 OBS sectors, followed by 6 sectors of A350-only flying, before being cleared for 330/350 SFF.

[Airmann]

Ok. I'm a bit confused here. Let me get this straight the 330/340 were not a common type. So one would need to have done a CCQ. But the 330/350 are just as the 787/777. But the question is have is that do the regulators require extra training or is that done at the behest of the operator? Did those who flew 330/340 have it on their license on separate lines as separate types or was it combined on one line as 330/340?

[Veruka Salt]

Correct; the 330 to 340 conversion was a CCQ, resulting in 'MFF'. On our licence pages, it was annotated as 'A330,A340' (note the comma). On the other hand, 330 to 350 is a differences course, resulting in 'A330/A350' on the licence (slash, not comma!), leading to 'SFF'. The regulator still requires extra training; paradoxically, a common type rating doesn't equal 'no extra training'. Our particular differences course goes beyond the minimum required by the regulator. Again, from memory, we do 2 x sims more than the minimum required by the HK CAD, plus the 2 x OBS sectors.

[Meikleour]

Airman: The A330 is twin engined and the A340 four-engined therefore by definition cannot be a single type rating because of the exercises that exist on one and not the other!

[LW20]

LH Pilots are flying A330/A340/A350.

[Denti]

A330/A350 are a common typerating, depending on the authority you need a kinda extended differences training, pretty much as between the 787 and 777 as well. As the Airbus types can be flown in SFF and MFF at the same time, flying A320/A330/A350 in MFF is both legal and possible, i heard rumors that Finnair did that, no idea if they still do or if they changed it to A340/A330/A350.

[SR71]

Are Cathay, Finnair and LH still flying the 330/350 SFF?

[swh]

Yes,,,,,,10

[kattokassinen]

At Finnair currently SFF is 330/350 and MFF is 320/330