Washington
\nAmerican Airlines has completed a series of transatlantic training flights meant to get pilots ready for the Airbus A321XLR.
\nBetween Sept. 4 and 25, a group of American check pilots flew 42 flights between Philadelphia and Edinburgh, Scotland, using an A321neo.
\nAmerican mainly uses its A320-family aircraft on routes within the U.S. and Canada, but the A321XLR, which the airline will start operating next year, has a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles, opening up new potential destinations.
\nFor that reason, pilots must be trained in new regions, including the North Atlantic.
\nA group of eight check pilots flew with FAA inspectors so they could be trained and qualified to operate the A321 over the North Atlantic.
\nThe eight then trained the rest of the check pilot cohort, and now this larger group will start training American\u2019s A320-family line pilots, initially from American\u2019s New York pilot base.
\nThe training the check pilots received focused on flight procedures unique to the North Atlantic, the use of radios different from those used on domestic flights, and suitable diversion airports in the region.
\n\u201cThese training flights were a huge success,\u201d said Capt. Josh Hall, American\u2019s A320 fleet captain, in a news release. \u201cThis 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.\u201d
\nThe airline has not said which transatlantic routes the aircraft will serve, though more details will be shared \u201csoon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington American Airlines has completed a series of transatlantic training flights meant to get pilots ready for the Airbus A321XLR. Between Sept. 4 and 25, a group of American check pilots flew 42 flights between Philadelphia and Edinburgh, Scotland, using an A321neo. American mainly uses its A320-family aircraft on routes within the U.S. and Canada, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-508147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n