A few years ago I had a choice – either follow the flock and build a Boeing 737, or build a 747 which is going (- gone) into retirement. Luckily there was a 3rd option – build an Airbus. Originally launched in the late 80’s the A320 will continue to be used by commercial airline groups in the foreseeable future. The new NEO engines has improved fuel economy making it a very attractive to Airbus customers.

At the Dubai Airshow Airbus announced a $US50 billion deal surpassing Boeing’s $20 billion deal. We can be assured the A320 will continue to live on; not surprisingly the cockpit interiors have not changed because of Airbus “commonality” philosophy. This makes it more straight forward to build the flight deck as parts from 30 years ago are still compatible and can be used in our simulators.