Airbus calls its A350 the “best office in the sky,” and for good reason. The jet harnesses 50 years of innovation to reduce pilot workload and ensure better safety for all passengers and crew. Along with the range of other assets the A350 brings, these developments have made the jet popular among pilots and carriers alike.

In this article, you can discover the range of innovations that Airbus has made to make A350s easier to fly and how they were developed. We also cover the downsides that have affected this jet’s popularity among pilots.

The Aircraft Was Designed With Pilot Consultation

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It is ultimately the pilots who have the best understanding of the tools they need to do the job properly. For that reason, Airbus consulted Airbus pilots throughout the design phase of the aircraft. Airbus claims that this collaboration has led the A350 to have the most technologically advanced cockpit of any commercial aircraft flying today.

Airbus has called particular attention to the plane’s six identical large screens. Pilots can share operational information easily, ensuring that both the captain and first officer have maximum situational awareness. These screens are touch-sensitive and angled inwards, so they are always visible and easy to use. In addition to benefiting pilots, these screens have fully interchangeable hardware and software, leading Airbus to predict 80% savings in spares and maintenance costs.

Pilots were also able to ensure that they could fly in comfort aboard the A350. The A350 cockpit has a retractable tray table, reclining seat backrest with full lumbar adjustment, adjustable armrests and headrests, and excellent head-up display visibility and head clearance. These comfort measures are essential as commercial planes’ range continues to increase.

Extensive Measures To Enhance Awareness and Reduce Workload

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The head-up displays are not the only way that Airbus has improved pilot awareness and workload, although their meteorological visualization capabilities are central. The A350 has been designed for pilots to reduce the consequences of faults through the Flight Management System’s ‘What If’ function. Pilots are now able to play virtual scenarios mid-flight, such as an engine failure, to assess the aircraft’s capabilities under any condition. Pilots can then plan their route accordingly.

Another cutting-edge feature is the Electronic-Centralized Aircraft Monitoring (ECAM) system that has been modified, so pilots can rapidly access information. Most importantly, pilots can use the dispatch function and Multi-Functional Display (MFD) checklists to make pre-flight dispatch and checks easier. Pilots can customize the checklists to isolate and correct abnormal situations.

Finally, A350 flight crews are issued with an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). The EFB is a laptop or tablet that contains a host of reference materials, including navigational charts and essential A350 information. The EFB streamlines the bulky carry-on flight bags pilots used to require, so that they can complete tasks without having to sift through great stacks of paper. The EFB is also highly interactive, enabling pilots to achieve the necessary functions far more efficiently.

The A350 Has New Safety Enhancement Systems

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Much of a pilot’s workload lies in ensuring the safe running of the services they are responsible for. The A350’s advanced safety features drastically reduce this stress. The aircraft incorporates three main advanced features. Firstly, the Brake to Vacate and Runway Overrun Warning & Protection (BTV/ROW/ROP) was initially introduced to the A380 as a unique Airbus creation. The A350 develops this technology further with data on runway contamination levels. The aircraft also has an interface allowing them to ensure their aircraft can successfully land on the assigned runway under the current conditions.

Furthermore, the A350 will be the first commercial aircraft to include Automatic Emergency Descent. This function is designed for rapid cabin depressurization, during which the flight crew may lose consciousness due to the lack of oxygen at high altitude. If depressurization alerts are ignored for too long, an A350 will return itself to a safe altitude until the crew becomes awake and responsive.

The final advanced safety feature is the On-board Airport Navigation System (OANS). This tool displays a map of the airport apron as soon as a pilot turns onto a taxiway. Taxiing is made far easier with pilots being able to see all the runways and taxiways, and the aircraft’s position relative to them, virtually and in real time.

Commonality Reduces Training Workload

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Learning how to fly a brand-new aircraft is a stressful and lengthy process for any pilot. It can take up to several months, depending on how familiar the pilot is with the aircraft’s features and the manufacturer’s other jets. Airbus makes this easier by ensuring commonalities across its current fleet. This can be seen in the image above, which displays the incredibly similar A330 and A350 cockpits.

Building similar aircraft has allowed Airbus to introduce the Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ), which reduces the number of training days required for a pilot to become A350-qualified. It is available for A320 (11 training days), A340 (10 training days), and A380 (five training days) pilots. Airbus has also created the Single Fleet Flying single license endorsement and Common Type Rating. These qualifications mean that A330ceo and A330neo pilots can qualify for the A350 in eight training days without needing time in the Full Flight Simulator.

Commonality benefits carriers as well as their pilots. It facilitates Mixed Fleet Flying (MFF). Airlines can have greater rostering flexibility across their Airbus fleets. It also provides pilots with a more varied, challenging, and enjoyable workplace environment by flying a broader range of aircraft and routes.

The Downsides of Flying An A350 For Pilots

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The A350 has numerous advancements that make a pilot’s job easier and safer. However, it has not been universally popular as the jet has some weaknesses. The most obvious downside is the A350’s enormous amount of complexity. There are numerous advanced systems to learn, causing a steep learning curve for pilots who aren’t already familiar with this generation of Airbus aircraft. This reduces the number of pilots who will be capable of flying the aircraft effectively. Simultaneously, much of this complexity is covered by automation, which could cause pilots to not fully understand the aircraft they are flying, in turn causing a loss of situational awareness.

Pilots have also been concerned about the A350’s reliability issues, according to Golden Epaulettes, an aviation education initiative. It points to the aircraft experiencing systems failures. For airlines, these issues have caused delays and disruptions. Meanwhile, pilots have justifiable safety concerns.

Finally, as is the case with many modern aircraft, the A350 has a high purchase price that may limit the number of airlines that can fly it. Simple Flying’s Aaron Spray has put the price point at $300-350 million, with discounts applying for most bulk orders. Airbus has still secured almost 1,500 orders and has delivered almost 700 aircraft across the A350 family. Yet, the high price point still means that if an A350 pilot becomes unemployed, they may struggle to find another airline that can use their skills.

A350 Overview

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The A350 had a tricky start, originally proposed in 2004 as a response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, there was too little market support for a jet developed directly from the A330. The manufacturer started again in 2006, designing the XWB (eXtra Wide Body) prototype. Seven years later, the A350 flew for the first time, achieving type certification in Europe and the USA in late 2014. Entering service soon after, the A350 gained a reputation for being usable at incredibly high rates, partly because of innovations to reduce pilot workload. For example, Finnair reached over 20 hours of daily flight time for its A350s bound for Bangkok. It was also clear that the A350 was highly versatile. Qatar Airways flew the longest A350 route from Adelaide to Doha (13.8 hours), while the average route was 6.8 hours long.

The table below includes critical specifications for the A350-900. The specifications have been gathered from Airbus data:

Airbus planned that its A350 would have three variants: -800, -900, and -1000. However, it scrapped the -800, opting for the A330neo in September 2014. The A350-900 is now the smaller of the two main A350 variants, typically seating 325 passengers. A sub-variant is the -900ULR (ultra-long-range). By increasing the fuel tank size to 44,000 US Gal, this jet can fly up to 9,700 nautical miles (18,000 km). The jet competes with the Boeing 777-200LR and 787-10. The larger variant is the A350-1000. Airbus has announced plans to begin testing a ULR variant of the A350-1000 next year.