The Aircraft of MDT: Airbus A319/A320

Welcome to the sixth regular installment of The Aircraft of MDT. In this series we are taking a look at some of the aircraft that you may spot flying to and from Harrisburg International Airport.

Ground crews prepare a US Airways A319 for departure.

Seating as many as 138 passengers, the Airbus A319 and A320 are the largest commercial airliners to make regularly scheduled flights to and from Harrisburg International Airport. US Airways flies the A319 between Harrisburg and Charlotte, NC, and United Airlines flies the A319 and the A320 between Harrisburg and Chicago.

The Airbus A320 family includes the A318, A319, A320, and A321. The first member of the family, the A320, was introduced in 1984 and entered service in 1988. The first variant of the A320, the A321, was introduced in 1988 and entered service in 1994. It seats a maximum of 220 passengers, compared to the A320’s 180 seat maximum. After the first two members of the family proved successful, Airbus launched the shortened A319, which entered service in 1996. The A319 is 12 feet 3 inches shorter than the A320 and seats a maximum 156 passengers, but it has a similar fuel capacity to its larger sibling, giving it the longest range in the A320 family. The baby of the family, with a maximum of 132 seats, is the A318, which began commercial operations in 2003.

An A319 in United Airlines livery.

The A320 is notable for being the first commercial airliner to feature a digital fly-by-wire control system and a full “glass cockpit.” Digital fly-by-wire systems, which first appeared in military aircraft in the 1970s, use a computer to interpret input from the pilots and aircraft sensors, and then adjust the plane’s control surfaces as necessary. A glass cockpit replaces traditional analog instrument panels with readouts on electronic displays. The cockpit innovations of the A320 mean that all members of the family have a common flight deck and so share a pilot type rating. That is, pilots certified to fly one member of the family require minimal, if any, additional training to fly any of the other members. The A320 cockpit also shares a great deal of commonality with other Airbus models, including the A330, A340, and the world’s largest airliner, the A380.

US Airways flight 949 departs for Charlotte aboard an A319

Records from 2005-2007 indicate that the A320 family is the fastest-selling family of jet airliners in the world. As of the end of last month, Airbus has delivered 4,790 aircraft in the A320 family, all but 90 of which are in active service. They also have firm orders for more than 3,100 more. At Harrisburg International Airport, aircraft in the family bring more than 7,500 passengers to and from Central Pennsylvania every month.