A319/320/321 vs. B737-800
 

Anyone flown both? I'm on the bus with 2500 hours on it and just can't seem to get comfortable with the thing. I just don't trust it. With close to 30 years in the airline business it's the first aircraft I have flown where one seems to get LESS confident on it the more one experiences all the weird stuff that goes on with it. I have been thinking of bailing to the 737 and looking for input from guys that have flown both types in either seat for some input. Comfort and noise being the only obvious advantage with the mini bus..

We had a captain in KWI like you. Scared stiff that the TLs didn't move. He went back to the old fleet.

I suggest you do the same if you can't keep up.

Very nice... I can keep up fine thank you.

I flew both. 15 years on 737 300/500/700/800 and now nearly 5 years on A319-21. I am comfortable in both, although i have to say i have not yet achieved the same level of knowledge with the bus that i had in the 737. But that is to be expected. I still miss the superior avionic capability of the 737, but enjoy the better automation of everyday tasks in the A320. All in all, as an everyday workplace i would prefer the A320, although of course a mix of both worlds would be even better. Pros A320: bigger flightdeck, bigger windows, better view, better automation, a table (and yes, that is a huge difference). Pros 737: better avionic, bigger screens, more capable autoflight system if one has the fail operational system.

That said, as above, at the end of a normal working day and after 4 sectors i am less tired flying the bus, which of course would enable me to function better in case something happened on that last sector.

In all respects, If I would not trust an aircraft after 2500 hrs I would change the fleet. I didn't fly the 737 so I can't really compare, I came to the bus from ATR's. It took a while but not years...

TOS

Never flown Boeing but it's true Airbus takes a while to feel comfortable IMHO. But after 2500 hours you should be. I suggest you read the auto flight system in the CBT and FCOM. It's heavy but when you fully understand it, you realise how great and easy this aircraft is to fly.

What weird stuff did you experience?? I'm pretty sure in most case you can get an rational explanation if you explain what happened.

I was in a similar position ten years ago. Had to change the fleet to stay at my home base. In the beginning I only saw the negative things. Controls sluggish, the autopilot in some scenarios is a joke (.. like selecting V/S to reduce a high climb rate, and it takes forever to actually see a reaction), sidesticks not connected.
I think in the end you just need to accept it as it is, stop thinking about the boeing, and adapt to the airbus.
High climb rate, and traffic above? Use V/S in time, or push to level off.
And the airbus does have a lot of pros.
And by the way, II don' trust any airplane. With the right set of malfunctions any aircraft will try to kill me ;-)

Once you realise that on the Airbus everything is "phase" related then it all fits into place.

Yes, bad choice of words. I apologise. I should have advised that if, after all this time, you are still uncomfortable, you should go back.