American Airlines is readying for the use of its new Airbus 321XLR aircraft to fly transatlantic routes in 2026.
The XLRs are an ultra-long-range version of the A321neo, with a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles.
In September, the airline flew a series of 42 flights between Philadelphia and Edinburgh, Scotland in an A321neo with a group of check pilots, who will be trained and qualified to operate over the North Atlantic. After that, these pilots will in turn train American’s A320 line pilots on the territory, initially from its New York base.
Several flights involved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors, so the initial eight check pilots could be qualified. After that, the first group of check pilots qualified the rest of the group.
“These training flights were a huge success,” said Capt. Josh Hall, American’s A320 fleet captain. “This effort sets us up nicely to begin training our line pilots to fly the A321XLR over the North Atlantic, and it was only made possible by the hard work and professionalism of our check pilots, the FAA and our A320 flight training and fleet technical teams.”
There are some unique aspects of flying in the North Atlantic, things that the training flights focused on. The North Atlantic Track system changes daily based on wind conditions and uses procedures unique to this area. Additionally, air traffic control operations here are a non-radar environment, so controllers who oversee the airspace rely on position reports sent from aircraft instead of radar-based air traffic.
What’s more, A320 pilots communicate over different types of radios than they use domestically and occasionally rely on satellite communication.
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