Some readers might actually fly a bigger plane than me. If you do, sorry for the title. Those that don’t may be interested in how flying airliners is different from general aviation airplanes.

Modern airliners are complicated beasties. But, I learned to fly one so I would imagine it is do-able for many others. After drinking from the fire hose that is airline training the heavy metal isn’t much of a mystery, even for the learning challenged such as myself.

Stick and Rudder

The stick and rudder skills to fly a small bug-smasher are the same for the big bug-smashers. Push the controls forward and houses get bigger. Pull the controls back and the houses get smaller. Wiggle the controls side to side and the airplane rolls. Mash around on the rudder pedals still swings the butt.

The big airplanes do respond to control inputs slower. The extra mass has more inertia, so getting it to move takes more effort. Some specific airplane types do have control peculiarities, but they are learned during training.

When you do get the nose of airliners pointed in different directions things happen faster. Groundspeeds scoot over 350 knots and it is common to see climb rates of several thousand feet per minute.

I still remember from my general aviation days flying by orientation to the horizon. I would pitch and roll the airplane based on what I saw outside. Now in my airline days I control the airplane mostly on instruments. This makes my flying precise enough for the performance. That and we generally can’t get an idea what the plane is up to by just feeling.

Flying airliners takes forethought. The aerodynamically slippery and heavy airplanes don’t like to slow down. Because airliners are crossing the ground so much faster pilots have to plan further ahead for all phases of flight. Getting from cruise altitude and speed to landing in particular takes a great deal of planning. Even in my dirty turboprop banging around at 25,000 feet we typically start our descents 80 miles from our destination.

A point of professional pride for pilots is to save as much fuel as possible. One of the best places to do this is in the descent. The lower altitude a turbine powered plane flies the more fuel it burns. To save fuel pilots try to stay at cruise altitude as long as possible, only starting down to avoid uncomfortably fast descents. Pilots will also plan the arrival, approach, and landing to keep the engines at flight idle as long as possible. Each time the airplane is leveled off with the engine power advanced more fuel is burned.

On takeoff and landing it takes more distance to start and stop airliners. The airplanes are closer to their performance limits in these phases of flight and they use a higher percentage of the runway.

Airliners use different speed terms for takeoff and landing and these speeds vary with weight. V1 is a takeoff decision speed. Below V1 pilots will abort if certain things go wrong. Above V1, pilots will continue the takeoff regardless. Vr is rotation speed, which is the same as in general aviation airplanes. At rotation speed the nose is pulled off the ground to increase wing angle of attack for flight.

V2 is a safety reference speed. Initial climbs are often flown in reference to these speed, though usually not directly at V2. If things go wrong (such as losing an engine), reference speeds to V2 will be used.

The approach will be flown on set profiles and set speeds depending on the segment of the approach. The final segment of the approach will be flown at a speed referencing Vref, which is actually defined as landing reference speed. Vref is often the actual speed flown on final.

Systems

The galleys in the cabin on modern airliners are more complicated than a general aviation airplane. The airplanes are very complicated. Manufacturers overcomplicate things for a couple reasons.

Certification requirements for airliners are more stringent. There has to be backups for the backups. The airplanes are abused more than general aviation airplanes. They fly in harsher conditions. They also fly more and are making constant cycles. Takeoff to landing is a cycle. The travelling public is surprisingly rough on the parts of the plane they have access to.

Redundancies are built into airliners so specific equipment can be deactivated if malfunctioning. The equipment will be deactivated and deferred according to the minimum equipment list for the airplane (MEL). The MEL specifies under what conditions any piece or system may malfunction and if operating procedures will change from it being deactivated. Manufacturers do their best to build multiple paths and redundancies between parts and systems to keep the airplane as reliable as possible.

The Engines

Airliners are powered by turbine engines. These come in two flavors, either turboprop or turbofan. With the turbofan the turbine core powers a large fan on the front of the engine. The fan is covered in the engine cowling. With a turboprop the turbine core powers a reduction gearbox which turns a propeller.

Turbine engines are actually easier to operate than many piston engines. The last piston airplane I flew had relatively large turbocharged engines which had to be babied to prevent shock cooling or turbocharger problems. The engines were difficult to start when it was really hot out or cold. The engines overheated easily towards the end of a long climb. And there were three levers plus cowl flaps to constantly tinker with for each engine.

The turbine engines I operate now are much easier. I do not have to worry about shock cooling, so I can pull the power levers straight to flight idle from high power settings. The FADEC (full authority digital engine control) takes care of many of the settings automatically. Starting the engines is as simple as pushing a start switch, pushing the condition lever into the appropriate position and monitoring the engine to make sure there isn’t a starting complication.

I fly a turboprop so there is a power lever and a condition lever for each engine. The condition levers control fuel flow for engine starts and shutdowns and they also control the propeller speed. Because of the FADEC, the condition levers are largely dummy levers that are a holdover from earlier variations of the airplane. We rarely use them outside of starting and stopping the engines. In fact, we have buttons that serve the same function.

On turbofans the thrust levers control the engine output. There is typically a fuel shutoff lever/switch near the thrust levers for startups and shutdowns. Other than that, it is the one lever for controlling the engine.

Flight Management Systems, Automation, and EFIS Panels

The flight management system (FMS) is a computer that can take on many roles depending on the plane type and options the airline has installed. At the minimum, the course for the flight can be programmed in the FMS. The FMS then supplies course guidance. The flight management system can be used to monitor fuel in the context of the flight plan and flight progress.

In many airplanes the FMS can supply vertical guidance for climb and descent planning. Some FMSs can even supply the information to the flight director as a means to control the airplane.

If an airplane has auto throttles, which is an automated system that controls engine power, the FMS can regulate engine output for a desired flight profile. Usually, pilots can choose maximum performance or a fuel savings profile. The FMS can set reduced power settings for takeoff.

If an airplane is equipped with aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) the pilots can use the FMS to communicate with airline dispatchers and maintenance controllers. The FMS is able to pick up reported weather at airports and get air traffic control clearances through the ACARS system.

Automation systems on modern airliners are complex. They can fly most of the time if the pilots wish, and many of these systems can even land the airplane. Through the auto land system some airliners are able to land in worse weather than otherwise allowed by instrument flight rules.

The autopilot is used by most pilots as an aid to flying rather than the primary means of control. That is, the autopilot works well for the mundane stuff such as cruise climbs and descents and in holding altitude and a navigation track in cruise. The autopilot does work well for approaches too.

There are times when disconnecting the automation decreases workload. Among other things, controllers at busy airports sometimes make last minute approach and runway changes. Rather than burying their head in the flight deck and reconfiguring the FMS and automation system, pilots will revert to flying the plane so that they can keep tabs on the most important part of the operation, flying the airplane.

The flight director is part of the automation system. It shows guidance cues on the attitude indicator. When the autopilot is engaged the flight director provides the guidance cues for the autopilot. When the autopilot is off, the flight director provides the same guidance cues for the pilots.

Most airliners now in service have some form of electronic flight instrument system (EFIS). EFIS flight decks are dominated by large monitor displays where the bulk of needed information is displayed on 5 or more screens. The EFIS flight decks help with situational awareness as they give a picture of airplane position, the relative position of terrain, weather, and other air traffic.

The primary flight display provides most of the direct information pilots need to fly the airplane. The attitude indicator, airspeed and altitude tapes, vertical speed, heading indicator, active navigation courses, and flight director modes are grouped logically together and are much easier to read and decipher than past systems.

Each pilot has a multi-function display (MFD) that can be selected to different options. Aircraft system can be displayed on the MFD, but pilots typically have a moving map displayed in flight. The moving map will have the terrain, traffic, and navigation information.

The EFIS flight deck includes one or more screens dedicated to various airplane systems. At least one screen will show pertinent engine information. Wrapped up in the system information will be the warning and caution systems. There are far too many systems and too many things that can go wrong for pilots to catch a specific malfunction. When a system malfunctions the airplane will announce it through the advisory system and the pilots will take appropriate action. There are multiple levels of advisories with some malfunctions needing immediate attention (fires) and others not needing to be addressed right away.

Even with all the fancy displays and automation there are far more systems to monitor and control and pilots do spend a greater chunk of their time doing so. The system baby-sitting duties fall to the pilot-not-flying.

Procedures and Checklists

Airliners are flown using flows and checklists. Flows are set patterns pilots follow to adjust and configure systems and controls according to procedure. Some flows are specific to position; first officers are responsible for specific flows and captains for others. Some flows are accomplished according to pilot flying, pilot not flying roles. After each flow, pilots run through a checklist to verify everything is set correctly.

Airliners are flown according to set profiles. At takeoff, each airplane will have a target rotation rate and an initial angle they will rotate to. Each airplane will have set speeds for the initial climb and then a range for the cruise climb. The planes are flown at set indicated speeds or mach numbers in cruise. In descent the airplanes will have a speed range. Speeds, flaps, and gear configurations are specified for each segment on an approach.

Operating Environment

There is more things to divide attention across when flying an airliner. It has less to do with the airplane itself and more to do with the reason for flying the airplane. The certificated air carrier world has more restrictions and regulations. Busy airports and a busy air traffic system compete for pilot’s attention. And the all important passengers are typical humans, they strive for attention and will sometimes misbehave to get it. Plus, the passengers do have needs to consider; sometimes.

Airliners use the big airports in large cities. Traffic is often heavy, both in the air and on the ground. Air traffic control reroutes airplanes often. There are long waits on the ground and sometimes long waits in the air in holding patterns. Radio frequencies are busy and congested. Air traffic controllers have little time at these airports for repeating themselves or explaining instructions, so they get testy when pilots cause this.

The FAA restricts private airplane operations. If private operations are poorly run or managed though it is not much of a risk to the general public. However, operations that make themselves available to the general public are in a position to hurt many people. For that reason the FAA has more restrictions on operators carrying people for hire. In particular, the FAA severely restricts airline operations.

The FAA is convinced modern airliners run on paperwork. The agency kills vast amounts of trees to reinforce this belief. There is a paper trail for everything involving the airplane. Pilots have to pour through reams of paperwork for each flight leg.

Air transport operations have more rules that are more restrictive. Keeping track of these in an ever-changing environment is a challenge even for the sharpest pilots.

Pilots are at the center of airline operations. They interface with maintenance, dispatch, aircraft cleaners, fuelers, airport operations controllers, baggage handlers, push-back crews. And they have to be the go-between for customer service communications.

Addressing passenger comfort is high on an airline pilot’s priority list.  Keeping the passenger cabin at a comfortable temperature is surprisingly difficult with airplane environmental control systems. Pilots will work to stay out of turbulent air too.

All this extra stuff is likely intimidating. Pilots do get used to it. However, just as all this neat automation and displays makes flying easier the complex system only uses up the attention and effort freed up by the displays and automation.

CRM and Training

Modern airliners are flown by a team. This is done to share the heavy load but also so that pilots can check each other. We have a little secret in the airline world: airline pilots make frequent mistakes just like general aviation pilots. But the mistakes are typically caught in the airline world before they amount to anything because of the safety nets built into the procedures and through the extra set of eyes in the flight deck.

I remember from my general aviation days that when I would fly a new airplane I would get a copy of the appropriate manual, study it for an afternoon., and then go fly. It helped that general aviation airplanes have similar systems, conventions, and characteristics.

The FAA requires a type rating to fly airliners. It actually has to say on a pilot’s license the FAA has blessed that pilot to fly a specific airplane type. Training and checking for the type rating is more involved.

Type rating training comes in multiple stages. Airplane systems are covered in the first one to two weeks. Learning the flight management system and static procedural trainers takes about one week. One to two weeks is spent in a simulator. The checkride for the type rating will be done in the simulator at the end of the simulator sessions.

In the airline world, after passing the type rating pilots will spend time flying with a check airman. This is known as initial operating experience (IOE). The check airman will bless the pilot as safe to fly at the end of IOE if all goes well. Then the pilot will join the line pilot ranks. Both first officers and captains follow this sequence.

Also in the airline world new hires will have a couple weeks of additional training before ever starting aircraft specific training. New captain upgrades have additional training too.

Some airplanes share the same type rating. For example, pilots can fly the Airbus A318, A319, A320, and A321 with the same rating. The FAA does require additional training for each variation. The additional training is known as differences training and is much less involved than a stand-alone type rating. This factors into airline fleet planning as differences training is less expensive, both for the initial training and for ongoing recurrent training.

This may all seem like a lot to chew. Please don’t let the complexity of it all scare you off. Many pilots have succeeded. The system is actually set up for pilots to succeed.