If you have a choice at your airline - Airbus or Boeing?
 

Serious question here. Why? Rumors here at AA that, if Airbus gives us a good deal, we may go with the NEO as a 757 replacement.

I've only flown Boeings and McDD. I am currently on the 75/76 and LOVE it. True pilot's airplane, albeit old technology. All my buddies who fly the A320 series and above say the same thing - great comfort and ergonomics, but if you love hand-flying a lot, it SUCKS (too much automation, pilot interface with machine is removed.)

Opinions? Let's have a fun debate!

thanks...
73

Going from an MD80 FO going back to the B737-200 as a captain was a baby step back in technology but even though my 18 months in the MD80 was brief I had to struggle to get by basic flying skills back to what they were.

With the auto everything on the Airbus going to a B757 would be a giant leap. I stayed with the 727 until they were gone and retired in the 757 because it was such a fun airplane to fly. I let the other guys play with the B777. I found my niches.

As I'm sure you're well aware my BIL has flown both 737-800's and A320's. I asked him his opinon about the 737(with all due respect, the 737NG is NOT a 757!). He prefers the 737-800.

Rode a A320 jumpseat this past weekend. Loved the size, view, and quietness vs. the 737. I wouldn't bothter switching aircraft to get A320 qual'd but IMO the cockpit is worth it if everything else(relative seniority, trip quality) is the same.

Now if Boeing comes out with the 797 in 2019-2020 as speculated, that, IMO, would probably be worth the wait.

Personally i would love the quiet and roomy flightdeck of the airbus compared to my pretty cramped 737 flightdeck. And if i would switch fleets at the moment i would be able fly MFF A320/A330 within a year. However staying on the boeing might be nice as well as we should get our first 787 in only three years or so and we gonna operate 737 and 787 in MFF as well. All in all it is more about what kind of operation i want to do currently than about the pure flying thing. I do love the 737, especially the 700, for its pilot friendly way of operation as well as the new gadgets we have on them (currently the 737 is more "modern" than the A320), as well as the easy way to switch it all off and just fly the plane. Best for day to day operation would be a mix of both worlds though, the spacious and quiet flightdeck of the airbus with most of the boeing systems inside :)

Thanks for all the opinions, keep 'em coming!

Misd-Again, I hope to see you on the 75/76 fleet soon, as I'm sure you're aware. :8

Oh great. yet another A vs B thread. But what pilots think is irrelevant. It's the accountants who make the decisions.




BTW - I find the Airbus a much less fatigueing working environment - and at the end of the day - that's very important.

Stick with Boeing - after 6,000 hours on bloody Airbuses I'd
go back to them in a heartbeat.

797? Rings a bell. Didn't one of those end up at McMurdo base
in the Antarctic in 1985?

The 'Bus is quiet and it's got a table............. What else can I say:cool::cool:? Oh yeah - all the guys on the 777 seem to be at the chiro getting their spines straightened:eek:

FINALLY!!! someone else who's read "Down to a Sunless Sea..." one of the BEST aviation fiction books I have ever read! Highly recommended reading, and quite accurate from a pilot's point of view.

Keep the comments coming, I want to be able to make a good decision if/when Airbus shows up on the property!

Cheerio... 73

emphasize...or so.....

I could have made more money flying the A300 with our company but didn't trust it like I did Boeing so stayed put. Everybody has to make their choices in life. I am glad I stuck with Boeing. Our copilot that got blamed for the JFK accident was a scapegoat. The vertical stab that was defective and patched out of the factory broke where the repair was done. I don't think the FDR can compensate for a fluttering VS about to leave the aircraft. I think if the back of the vertical stabilizer gets loose the rudder then becomes a trim tab so right rudder input gives left yaw. How would the pilots know that the VS was coming off?

Interesting to hear A320 pilots say it is more quiet on the flight deck than a Boeing. As a passenger on an A320, sitting around row 3 or 4 the noise is dreadful, more like a farmers tractor flat out than an aircraft! An engineer told me it was probably fan noise?

Bubers44 Yes that particular A300 had delamination issues during production and was "patched" as you say..... Boeing has done the same to a few of their composite tails.... but none of themn have as yet come off either.
Also, the accident aircraft had earlier in its' life been involved in a pretty significant in flight upset. So much so that AA pulled or downloaded the flight recdorder data and submitted it to Airbus for guidance. I do not know what guidance AA received from Airbus... but Airbus DID NOT share their calculation that the vertical stabilizer of the aircraft had been subjected to ULTIMATE load factor during the upset. That came out during the discovery phase of the accident aircraft legal battle.
As of yet I don't know that Airbus has complied with recommendations of changing rudder feel-throw-limiters on the A300 jet.

I wouldn't say it was all that accurate (overweight T/Off from
Azores with a V2 of an Aztec?) but yeh a good story when it
first came out. Absolute bummer ending though.

The only true accuracy was that Brit captain wending his way
into the Russian crew chick's pants (I don't think he shagged
her FO), and the Brit FO doing his nuts over some skinny NY
tart.

WK you seem to be confusing perceived cockpit discomfort with Shagger's Back! ;)

I'd get DC-9's for short hops, 757 and 767's for the medium and long-range flights, and 777's for the ultra-long range trips.

Yup, the blend of DC10 with 747 was inspirational! :ok:(jk ;)) Great story!... I'd hope pilots aren't smoking what those guys were though! :eek:

Airbus ofcourse
 

I like the table, I like the noise, I like the way she seems to get what you want, I like the autotrim, I like the way we operate her.

I'd take any Boeing first, then a catering truck, then a cleaning truck, then McDonald's and perhaps a bit after that Id reluctantly consider an airbus.

Flown both A and B.

Like the Boeing manuals better. Easier to find the info u want, be it systems or abnormals.

Finds Airbus manuals....abit all over the place...

currently flying A320.

When the day is easy... Rather be in an Airbus.

When the chips are down, with system failures - Boeing.

Agree the above comment about Airbus manuals!