fartoomanyusers

Neo discussion starts at 5:18 ... slightly painful to listen to when the presenter talks about Ceo and Neo interchangeably !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0008p32

Interesting point comes at the end with a statement from Airbus saying that a software fix next year will make the problem magically disappear !!

Globaliser

AIUI, that's because this is fundamentally a software problem.

T8191

Just farcical! I hope the Airbus ‘fix’ doesn’t mimic Boeing's 737Max fix!

FlightDetective

I heard the same from a dispatcher at LHR months and months ago who was sending A321neos out for another airline. They said it's a real ..... to load because the tolerances are so tight.

I can see a bunch of my flights have been switched to A321neo for November, so I'm "looking forward" to no centre table in Club Europe. Sigh.

Charlie Whiskey

All explained here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2019/0...fety-concerns/

SonTech

Its not just at BA, seems every other operator of the Neo is/will be doing the same in the short term.

Raffles

The problem is that EASA believes the pilots would need to react more quickly in a dangerous situation because the extra weight at the back makes it harder to maneouvre the aircraft. If we're talking a 'software' fix we are probably looking at taking control away from the pilots and giving it to the computer, which in theory reacts faster. And, yes, look what happened when Boeing tried that ...

Raffles

No they won't. easyJet is managing it purely via positioning the cargo differently I believe.

The issue with BA is a) the empty middle seat in CE which reduces weight in the front and b) the tighter seat pitch behind the emergency exit doors which means more passengers per square metre at the back. easyJet has neither of these problems.

rockflyertalk

Airbus statement to R4 about this weight issue is a rather unfortunate choice of words in my own view. “A software fix will be issued next year” We have seen what has happened to Boeing and the max with their tarnished plane. Surely a better statement could have been made.

Also can software truely fix a physics problem when mass and gravity are involved?! I’m sure there’s more than a binary answer to that.

Joshm300

Presumably the other strength easyJet have is that at the end of most of their flights half of the Pax get off at the back door, whereas on BA at Heathrow the people at the front get off first, meaning the balance problems are made even worse!

DYKWIA

All A32x aircraft are fly-by-wire anyway. So anything regarding flight controls will be software related.

The issue with the B737Max was that some form of fly-by-wire was introduced without being advertised...

ahmetdouas

yeah not true I’ve flown with Pegasus and the plane was packed!

BA6948

I agree with this. Airbus should solve this physics issue by adding more weight to the front of the plane or ordering airlines to go back to a more humane configuration for both passengers and crews. I feel sorry for flight attendants having their space reduced at the back of the aircraft.

Forever in Seattle

If/when the 737 Max issues get sorted and deliveries resume, there is a proposal to shift more Neo's to BA from within IAG.

Globaliser

As DYKWIA says, Airbus FBW aircraft are all already built on the basis that the computers almost always have control, and that the pilots fly the aircraft by issuing requests to the computer even when they are "flying manually" and the computer then controls the aircraft according to the laws built into the software.

AIUI, the problem here is that the software has been found to be less good than it ought to be in certain extreme conditions (that have not yet been encountered in real life). The short-term mitigation is to prevent those extreme conditions by restrictions on the position of the centre of gravity; the longer-term fix is to improve the software so that it handles those extreme conditions properly. As, arguably, it ought to have done from the outset - and if it had done so, this would have been a complete non-story with no need for anyone to call for physical modifications to the aircraft.