Good question Minidoh. In the UK and Europe it depends on the airline and their needs.

I joined Aurigny when they first got the Saab 340. I hadn’t applied to them until I heard they were getting the Saabs because I wasn’t prepared to move overseas to fly a Shorts 360 and definitely wanted to aim higher than the piston engined single crew Trislander. I was interviewed specifically for one of the 6 available FO positions on the Saab. There were 2 girls interviewed who didn’t make the Saab cut but were good enough to be offered positions on the Shorts 360. I guess I could have asked for the Shorts or the Trislander (as there was always vacancies on that fleet) but I would have been mad to chose those types over the Saab. As it happens I wouldn’t have been allowed to go onto the Trislander at the time because they needed 2000 hours total and 500 hours multi-engine for insurance purposes which I didn’t have then.

When I was told that I had been successful with the JMC interview I was asked to have a think about whether I wanted to fly the B757 or A320 and give them a call the next day with my decision. I chose the A320 because it at the time the only UK 757 operators were the main charter airlines and BA whereas there were many A320 operators doing more varied work. If JMC went bust there was much more likelihood of me getting work with a bus rating than a 757 rating. Also, if I wanted to go back to Virgin it would only require a 1 week conversion to fly the A340 whereas the 757 would give me no credit for any other Virgin type. However when I phoned back the next day they said there were now only 757 courses available but I could hold on if I wanted. If I had decided to wait for an A320 course I would have still been waiting 3 1/2 years later!

Now, waiting for Virgin, I am led to believe that their preference is to keep existing Boeing pilots on Virgins Boeing type and existing Airbus pilots on Virgins Airbus types. This is only a general guideline and if there are only the other type available when your time comes up you grab it with open arms. As you get further into your career the type of aircraft you fly becomes less important when compared to the lifestyle it will give you.

Hope that helps.

You wouldn’t have any power with which to deploy the flaps so it would be a high speed clean landing/crash. You would certainly have a pitch much much higher than 15 degrees nose down (in fact almost certainly quite nose high).

All the more amazing that BA ordered short haul Airbus’s DESPITE the A320’s they inherited from BCal!

Originally posted by rekkof2004
And pigs may fly

Be careful what you say…Airline Owner will believe this as well! 😉

Airbus have just brought out the Advanced versions of the 200 and 300 of the A340 (and are also applying the technology to the A330). They are still bought by airlines to satisfy a specific need for efficiency over a defined range with a certain seating capacity which is less than that of the 500 or 600.

Doesn’t seem that long agp that everyone was saying BA would never order Airbus short haul products. What a difference a day makes…

As you know, my brother is a BA skipper. He has often told me that in his view it is a matter of time before BA have to look at the economics of Airbus long haul.

I don’t know much about Embraers but would row 12 be coincident with overwing exits? Perhaps they required one passenger each side to act as an ABP for each exit?