United was the launch customer for the 777. I was told when senior UAL pilots went to see the cockpit mock-up, it had a stick.
"No damn United airplane will ever have a stick in it!! Put in a yoke!!" I was told. So, Boeing did.
Who asked for that? Senior United Captains who find themselves on such buying committees; guys who undoubtedly had flown B-377s, DC-6s and -7s, DC-8s -10s, and the B-720 and 727.
A few months later, some United captains went to see the Bus on a buying tour. Northwest was the first big North American customer; so the Bus somewhat of an unknown.
I would guess these guys were somewhat more junior. To them, a sidestick was fine. Suddenly, United announces a huge order for stick-equipped airplanes that aren't built by Boeing or Douglas.
To the dyed-in-the-wool McBoeing crowd, this was heresy. Not made in America, sidestick, fly-by-wire (which only the F-16 had done to this point) and the ever popular "Airbus---even the name sucks." (Which I will admit is pretty funny).
So, pilots looked for way to insult and denigrate it. Final assembly of the A-320 was largely done in France (some is now done in Germany, and China; Mobile Alabama in 2018). So, thinking it was a "French airplane," they started calling it Fifi (pronounced "fee-fee," as in a Moulin Rouge can-can girl's name).
The FMC of the Airbus is slightly different from Boeing. It has no Execute key. I was told that Boeing made the software proprietary, so Airbus had to make theirs different. It means that when you put in the last digit in a field, it takes it. You can't say "Does that look right to you?" and then execute.
You just have to change your habit pattern to put in all but the last digit before you ask that question.
It did lead to the stereotypical "What (or Why) is it doing that?!?!" derogation of the A-320 and its FMC architecture.
When I was hired (99), I didn't know much about the bus. I had never flown on one even as a passenger, and couldn't tell an A-300 from a 767. I didn't know that the wings are made in the UK, the empennage in Spain, the aft fuselage in Germany, and the forward fuselage in France. I didn't know the Brits did the human engineering for the cockpit layout, and proposed the sidestick. I think the UK makes the FBW electronics.
I was going through 747-400 school with a great Captain, when I was barely off probation. When 9-11 happened and I knew I was going to get bumped, I remembered what he had told me while going through 747 class:
"There are two kinds of pilots--those who hate the Bus, and those who have flown the Bus."
I like the Bus. I like the sidestick, the logic in handling emergencies, the roominess, the quiet, the tray, the seat, and the far-better air conditioning. "Fifi" is fine, but it isn't really French. Neither is California sparkling wine.
The worst part of all this? The 777 and 787 having a freaking wheel between your legs, even though they are both FBW. My biggest disappointment is that Boeing doesn't build as smart or comfortable a cockpit as Airbus. Thanks, United buying committee on the 777.....
I have no desire to fly the 787. But I would like to fly the A-350.