This is a different type of question, more about once you’re at the major airlines. What are the main differences between Airbus and Boeing? And why do most people seem to think 1 is better then the other and not just different? Is it really just preference like BMW or Mercedes, or is there some major differences?
Aaron,
Chris and Adam will be able to answer this better than I can, but from what I know the main difference is in how the aircraft is flown/controlled. Boeing uses a traditional control wheel and Airbus uses a side stick. Pilots that have flown both aircraft claim that a Boeing is designed to be hand flown and an Airbus is designed to be monitored with the automation engaged.
While I haven’t flown a Boeing, I have flown an A320 sim. The side stick takes some getting used to because it doesn’t control the airplane like a yoke or control wheel does. It takes pilot input and translates it into a pitch and/or roll rate and it will keep pitching and/or rolling unless you return the stick back to the neutral position. If you did that with a traditional yoke or control wheel the airplane would return to wings level.
Additionally, if the pilot flying an Airbus unintentionally put too much input on the stick, in order to reduce the rate of pitch and/or role the pilot would have to input a counteractive force on the stick (from the stick’s neutral position). Again, not how a traditional yoke or control wheel works. Too much input from the pilot flying a Boeing requires a counteractive input as well, but the orientation of the yoke or control wheel is a direct indication of how much the control surfaces are being deflected.
Also, the thrust levers behave differently. Boeing thrust levers operate intuitively. Up, or forward, means more thrust. Down, or backward, means less thrust. Airbus thrust levers are set in the takeoff position and are left there until the plane notifies the pilots when to reduce thrust to idle before touchdown.
Here’s a video of two pilots debating over which is better, also kind of funny to listen to:
https://youtu.be/FVIpgSUNyBw
Tory
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Aaron,
Boeing and Airbus use very different kinds of logic. Airbus takes pilot commands, analyzes them and then decides what it will allow the pilot to do. Boeing provides warnings, but always allows the pilots to have final control.
The side stick on the Airbus is all fly by wire and does not provide feedback like a Boeing yoke does.
I myself am a Boeing fan.
Chris
Tory,
That was an excellent description of the differences in the two types of airplanes.
Chris
Thanks, Chris. Been a while. Thought I would have missed something.
Nope. Sounds like you are ready for a checkride on either one 
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That was a great breakdown and made it really easy to understand, thanks to both of you. So I’m guessing a regional jet would be flown more similar to how a Boeing would?
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I have flown the Embraer 145 and have very limited experience in a CRJ 200 simulator. I would say that both are much closer to a Boeing in the way they fly, but that the overhead panel, which controls most of the aircraft’s systems, are more similar to Airbus.
Chris
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The panels, displays and the EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) in the ERJ are similar to the Airbus, but the ERJ has a control wheel like a Boeing, except the shape of the ERJ control wheel is like a Harley because Embraer’s philosophy was to design everything in the flight deck to be ergonomic.
Tory
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The Embraer “rams horn” yoke is very similar to what was used in Concorde.
I was never a fan.
Aaron,
Honestly I don’t know any pilot who has flown both who prefers the Bus. As Tory and Chris said they’re really completely different logic and it sometimes almost feels like the Airbus engineers were trying to take the pilots out of the equation. The computers (and there are literally hundreds) are controlling the plane and the pilot is simply imputing commands via an “input device” (literally what Airbus calls the sidestick). You enter a command and Fifi decides if she wants to comply. Really not a fan.
Adam
That makes sense, Boeing sounds like it would be more fun to fly thanks for the breakdown
I met with the chief pilot of Embraer when I was down in Brazil last. He was also the first test pilot at the company hired on at age 17. He told me the story of how the ram horns came to be. Mainly it was decided upon because all of the guys in the room were big fans of motorcycles! Was told some of our SkyWest management were a part of that meeting. Hearsay according to him, but I’d say it’s a pretty reputable source!
Fun sidetone - decided to decorate the cockpit for the other guy I was delivering the plane with. Needless to say, the maintenance guys were all big fans when we finally got it back to the States haha. Definitely miss that plane!
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