Pilots love flying Airbus aircraft because of the incredible commonality across its jets. For the Airbus A320, A330, A350, and A380, pilots use the same harmonized panel layouts, sidestick controls, near-identical ECAM logic, and standardized FMS. That means narrowbody Airbus pilots can quickly qualify to fly other jets built by the manufacturer. Pilots can use this attribute to access faster promotions to widebody aviation. Transitioning from the A320 to the A350 can take as little as eight days.

Airbus, pilots, and airlines all benefit from the commonality. It allows airlines to fly more profitably by expanding their fleets without needing to hire new pilots. Airbus also uses the commonality as a lever to negotiate mixed widebody and narrowbody orders.

Understanding Fleet Commonality

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Fleet commonality is the reason that pilots can quickly transition between different Airbus jets. Commonality refers to different aircraft models sharing parts, features, systems, and characteristics. Commonality can occur between aircraft of the same family, such as between the A350-900 and -1000, or between aircraft of different families. The A350 and A330 have a very high degree of commonality.

Aircraft with commonality can still differ greatly. For example, the Airbus A340 has a landing gear that is very different from the A330 and flies with four engines. Yet these jets share many similarities, so pilots can easily transition from one to the other.

Airbus isn’t the only manufacturer that builds jets with commonality in mind. The main example for its primary competitor, Boeing, is the commonality between the Boeing 747, 757 and 767. All of these aircraft can use the Rolls-Royce RB211, which helps the airlines that fly them to streamline maintenance. The commonality between the 757 and 767 is so close that they share a type rating, meaning that pilots don’t need to pass an additional type rating course if they can already fly one of them. This characteristic is seldom seen between widebody and narrowbody aircraft.

The Type Rating Courses Needed To Fly New Airbus Jets

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When a pilot needs to transition to a new aircraft type, they must normally undergo a Type Rating course. It usually takes 40 days to complete such a course, with the pilots having to learn a host of new aircraft systems and procedures. There is also an extensive amount of time required in the simulator, and pilots have to pass a skill test with a type rating examiner. Pilots still can’t fly freely after passing this test, as they then have to conduct a set number of flights with an instructor present.

Airbus makes this process much shorter with what they call a Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ), which pilots can use once they are qualified on at least one Airbus aircraft type. An A320 to Airbus A330 CCQ takes seven days, while an A320 to A350 CCQ takes eight days. The longest Airbus CCQ is from an A320 to an A380 and takes 11 days. These pilots then have to undergo the standard line training, flights with an instructor or examiner present, but this process is also substantially shorter.

The commonality becomes an even greater advantage when pilots need to transfer from the A330 to the A350. Airbus considers these jets to share the same type rating, so no CCQ is needed. However, pilots transitioning to the A350 have to undergo a small amount of classroom training.

Airbus Pilots Still Have To Undergo Other Checks And Maintain Proficiency

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It wouldn’t be safe for a pilot to collect a wide range of type ratings, stop flying an aircraft, and then suddenly return to it. For that reason, pilots undergoing mixed-fleet flying (MFF) must pass simulator checks every six months to maintain their qualifications. They also have to pass a line check every year. These tests don’t have to be done for every type rating a pilot has. They can alternate them.

Airbus’ commonality enables MMF across multiple aircraft types. Etihad Airways is an example of a carrier that has made the most of this capability. The table below shows Etihad’s Airbus fleet according to planespotters.net:

MMF pilots are also subject to recency requirements, so they don’t lose the unique muscle memory and procedural knowledge that each aircraft has. Pilots have to perform three take-offs and landings on a type within 90 days. When flying MMF, pilots can do this in either aircraft they fly, so long as one take-off and landing is performed for each type every 90 days.

The Other Benefits That Come From Commonality

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Airbus has identified a number of benefits from the commonality across its aircraft that go beyond making things easier for pilots. Firstly, it simplifies carriers’ management of the spare parts that are vital to keep their aircraft in the sky. Within the A350 family, there is a 95% spares commonality and 85% tooling commonality between the A350-900 and -1000. Airbus estimates that this produces $1.8 million of savings based on a fleet of ten A350-900 and ten A350-1000.

Commonality within the Airbus family also extends to the engines, which are used by each aircraft. For example, Rolls-Royce has exclusive powering rights for all jets in the A350 family with its Trent XWB engines. Such commonality improves training and maintenance efficiency.

The table below shows the specifications for both main variants of the Trent XWB. It uses data from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA):

As with CCQ qualifications, Airbus also offers airlines Cross Mechanic Qualifications (CMQs) to make it easier for them to maintain a wide variety of Airbus jets. As with pilots, this reduces the number of mechanics that are needed to keep aircraft operational.

The Importance Of Fly-By-Wire For Airbus Commonality

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Since the A320 became the first civilian aircraft to use a digital fly-by-wire system, the technology has been consistent across Airbus jets. Unlike conventional flight control systems, fly-by-wire planes digitally detect a pilot’s control inputs, which are then sent to flight computers. The flight computers process this input data and use hydraulics to manipulate the control surfaces accordingly.

Airbus jets share similar control laws, which place limits on what the control surface can do. Pilots aren’t able to exceed certain g-loads, roll speeds, side-slips, and more. All this means that from the A320 to the Airbus A380, all Airbus jets behave in similar ways.

Another similarity for pilots is in the ECAM (electronic centralized aircraft monitoring) system. It monitors a wide range of aircraft parameters, alerting pilots whenever a problem arises. Airbus has consistent read-and-do checklists for similar errors across its planes. As a result, pilots can rapidly respond to emergencies without having to learn dozens of new procedures.

The Latest News From Airbus

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Commonality isn’t the only factor towards a manufacturer’s success, although it certainly contributes to it. Airbus has recently experienced a significant setback with 16 A380s needing emergency inspections after cracks were discovered in wing spars. The order came from the EASA and included 15 Emirates aircraft and one Qantas A380. The saving grace for Airbus has been that no evidence has indicated a widespread safety risk beyond these 16 aircraft within the A380 family or any other Airbus aircraft types. Furthermore, only five of the Emirates planes were immediately pulled from service. The other 11 affected aircraft must undergo inspection within the next 25 flight cycles.

The A380 has previously faced structural wing-related problems. In 2012, the EASA demanded global inspections of all examples of the jets after cracks were found in the brackets that connect the wing skin to the wings’ internal ribs. Such widespread inspections are costly, with further losses made whenever issues requiring a fix are found. The EASA directive relating to the inspections reads, “It has been determined that the cracks found on certain aeroplanes could reduce the structural integrity of the wing. To address this potentially unsafe condition, Airbus determined that an additional special detailed inspection has to be accomplished.”

Another issue Airbus recently experienced concerns its supply chain. It has struggled to increase its production to a level needed to efficiently fulfill its orders due to a shortage of Pratt & Whitney engines. There are currently Airbus jets parked at facilities in France and Germany, with these jets completed except for the engines. Perhaps this is a point where commonality becomes an issue. With so many shared parts across the Airbus portfolio, bottlenecks can affect multiple families simultaneously, and the manufacturer is also likely to find it harder to move away from problem suppliers. Other problems recently cited by Airbus include high energy costs and burdensome European regulations.