One of my worst training experiences during my entire career as a professional pilot since 2004 was in 2021. When the instructor and captain locked horns on the 737 vs. 320. God what an awful experience. Complete lack of professionalism on the captain and instructor. I wanted to say it then and I'll say it now. The 737 is a steaming pile of **** but we will never, ever see the Airbus here again at Alaska so just **** and move on.

 

Not really…..
Boeing 737 is built cheap, and it shows. Boeing 737 is cheap and it shows…Alaska Airlines is built cheap and it shows. Alaska Airlines is cheap and it shows. Perfect fit.
There is no one arguing that the 737max is as good as a 321neo/lr/xlr. They would be mistaken. And anyone arguing that the 321neo/lr/xlr is good fit for Alaska Airlines is equally mistaken.
We are not the kind of airline nor do we haul the kind of passengers that would appreciate and benefit from the superior capability and cabin comfort that is available with a 321.

 

Yeah bus is funky with cross winds. It would get it done, but not really pretty.

Bus turns bad pilots into mediocre pilots. Also turns great pilots into mediocre pilots. Socialist influence I suppose.

 

And the A350 has an 8,000+ mile range. A220 is still a better airplane for pilots and passengers than the 321.

 

None of this really matters since the E175 is superior to all of them. 🙃

 

CASM the only metric that really matters.

 

Not true. Delta still churning out a healthy profit with "expensive" aircraft.

There is more than one way to make a profit in air travel. Seeking premium customers is one of them.

 

This is plainly untrue. You just needed to understand Fifi and you can grease it consistently. Even in a crosswind.

 

almost 5000? 4700 is not almost 5000. 4700 is also not going to be the range after they fix their flawed design.

https://simpleflying.com/airbus-a321...ge%20advantage.

 

It's easy to figure out what makes a great pilot, but just what exactly defines a bad pilot anyways? Isn't that more subjective than objective, influenced by our individual or collective biases?

Getting along with the other guy in the flight deck is a big deal, but that aside, I'd much rather fly with a pilot with great Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) skills, and a commitment to safety and professionalism whose landing are not that great, than the guy who greases it on 9 times out of 10, but lacks those qualities. Another guy/gal might see it the other way.

A great pilot becomes mediocre through complacency irrespective of the equipment he flies. A report came out a few years ago that concluded that as a group, our flying skills have degraded because of the fact that these days we are more like system and event managers, than aviators.

To enhance safety, Airbus was deliberately designed to reduce the workload of the pilot not just during normal ops, but more importantly during emergency and abnormalities.
However, turn off all that automation on a day with gusty cross winds and you will be relying on all your skills and proficiency to land that airplane safely.

I did it every now and then, and while initially very humbling, I derived some satisfaction from noticing that my stick and rudder skills improved with each effort.

Of course, it doesn't take long to fall back into the routine of, "Ah what the hell..... I'll just let FiFi do it!" Hahaha