B737 vs A321?

Fly2kCovid

Well-Known Member
Anyone whos flown both have a opinon on either? I haven't but always hear the 737 is more of a pilots plane but cramped and the airbus is like a pilots office but roomy.
 
Anyone whos flown both have a opinon on either? I haven't but always hear the 737 is more of a pilots plane but cramped and the airbus is like a pilots office but roomy.

Have flown both. Each has its pluses/minuses. Yes, the 737 is less spacious than the Bus. But I’m a fairly thin guy so don’t mind the space. The hand flying is more fun on the 737.

If you’re asking in terms of being at an airline that has both fleets, choose the one that gets you the base you want, upward movement quicker, and better QOL in terms of days off and schedules. 737 vs 321 itself shouldn’t enter the equation.
 
What Cherokee Cruiser said. Also the Airbus has no personality . They all seem to fly exactly the same. The Boeings have a personality and are more fun to hand fly. Airbus is just a giant video game when hand flying it.

if All variables are equal I’d personally take the Airbus. It is a like a Cadillac. Roomy and comfortable and easy to fly.

now if anyone brings back the 727 to my airline. I’m jumping in that.
 
Anyone whos flown both have a opinon on either? I haven't but always hear the 737 is more of a pilots plane but cramped and the airbus is like a pilots office but roomy.

I was on the bus and am currently in 737 school. Obviously, QOL comes first. But everything being equal, I'd take the Airbus and never look back. If you have to spend 5-8 hours in a flight deck everyday, the Airbus is just a wonderful place to do it.
 
The 525 cockpit is terrible...which when I climb in it every couple weeks makes the next two hours suck ;)
 
This complaint has never made any sense to me. Seriously, WTF cares about the overhead panel??? They're pretty much all the same.

The problem with the 737 is the amount of manual intervention required for systems that should be (and on many other airplanes are) automated.

-No automatic bus switching. After engine start you still manually put the airplane on the engine driven generators. During shutdown you have to manually put them on the APU generators.

-No automatic air management system. Same deal. After engine start, why isn't it smart enough to automatically deselect the APU bleed source and select the engine bleed? Why during engine starts do we manually open and close the isolation valve when the system should be smart enough to protect itself.

-No EICAS, but rather an antiquated recall system directing you to the Easter egg hunt for a light somewhere on the overhead, then requiring you to analyze the problem and choose the corrective action.

-No ice detector. Watch for ice on the windshield wiper nut.

-No automatic fuel balancing.

Etc... etc... the list goes on and on. From a human factors perspective the Max is a colossal disappointment - the flagship of Boeing's narrowbody line, with technology anchored in the early 1990s at best.
 
The problem with the 737 is the amount of manual intervention required for systems that should be (and on many other airplanes are) automated.

-No automatic bus switching. After engine start you still manually put the airplane on the engine driven generators. During shutdown you have to manually put them on the APU generators.

-No automatic air management system. Same deal. After engine start, why isn't it smart enough to automatically deselect the APU bleed source and select the engine bleed? Why during engine starts do we manually open and close the isolation valve when the system should be smart enough to protect itself.

-No EICAS, but rather an antiquated recall system directing you to the Easter egg hunt for a light somewhere on the overhead, then requiring you to analyze the problem and choose the corrective action.

-No ice detector. Watch for ice on the windshield wiper nut.

-No automatic fuel balancing.

Etc... etc... the list goes on and on. From a human factors perspective the Max is a colossal disappointment - the flagship of Boeing's narrowbody line, with technology anchored in the early 1990s at best.

Ok... But none of that actually makes it more complicated to fly than nearly any other plane (except I assume FIFI since those pilots are the loudest complainers) or is anything I remotely care about. So again, back to my original post - I don't get the complaint.
 
Ok... But none of that actually makes it more complicated to fly than nearly any other plane (except I assume FIFI since those pilots are the loudest complainers) or is anything I remotely care about. So again, back to my original post - I don't get the complaint.

No but it both increases workload and is a human factors disaster. I've flown Learjets that do all of the things that I mentioned. All of the RJs from as far back as the Canadair do too.

It's not a bad airplane and can be fun to fly. But we do need to be honest about Boeing. They allowed the airplane to fall generations behind the competition to appease some clients.

I flew the DC9 for two airlines. Even that old workhorse was eventually brought up to date with the 717.
 
-No ice detector. Watch for ice on the windshield wiper nut.
Neither do a good number of Airbi, unless you count the little pecker thing in the middle of the windshield that you have to crane forward to look at as an ice detector.

Never flown the 737, but sometimes I am a little jealous of less complexity. Sometimes maintenance issues for electrical delays gets super annoying and it'd be nice to have less stuff to throw a fit. It also seems like the more highly electrical advanced planes don't "age" as well and have more random issues like that, whereas a 737 seems like it has to really break before you're super delayed. Purely anecdotal though.
 
I will say, the 737 is robust as hell. Not like Fifi having nuisance issues and dumb messages like RA #2 that somehow gets cleared when you insert 108.00 in ILS frequency on Rad Nav page. None of that dumb Fifi stuff. On the 737 if the caution comes in, something actually happened.
 
I think Ive had to get a new plane ONCE in almost 2000 hours of 737 flying... almost everything can be MELd or fixed quickly.
 
737 is the most reliable airliner I've ever flown, but I'm happily flying the airbus the rest of my career starting early next year.
 
Ok... But none of that actually makes it more complicated to fly than nearly any other plane (except I assume FIFI since those pilots are the loudest complainers) or is anything I remotely care about. So again, back to my original post - I don't get the complaint.
Well yas see, when yar flying ands ya can't count your treasure on the fold out table, that's when it really gets complicated. Yar'sssss
 
Ok... But none of that actually makes it more complicated to fly than nearly any other plane (except I assume FIFI since those pilots are the loudest complainers) or is anything I remotely care about. So again, back to my original post - I don't get the complaint.

thats fine you don’t have to get it. Everyone else does.
 
I flew the DC9 for two airlines. Even that old workhorse was eventually brought up to date with the 717.

To be fair, Boeing built the 717......kind of like the Super Hornets I flew, though the manufacturer data plate said McDonnell Douglas, probably just an error :)
 
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