Air Canada Rouge Airbus 321 Pilot Q/A
When you board a plane, do you ever wonder what the pilot is up to once the cockpit door is shut? What about when the plane is not in the air—what do they do then? I was fortunate enough to chat with Matthew Go, a first officer with Air Canada Rouge, and I got to ask him these questions plus what it’s like to be a pilot in general. I’ve been following Matt’s Instagram account for some time, so recently I reached out to ask if he’d be willing to do a quick Q&A. Thankfully, he agreed! Below, he provides some great insight and perspective as to what a pilot’s life is really like. Plus, I got to throw in some more technical questions regarding what it’s like to fly the Airbus 321. Here’s the highlights from our conversation!
Jack: You fly an Airbus 321, 320 and 319. Can you tell me the longest routes you’ve done in each?
Matthew: On the 321, I flew from Toronto (YYZ) to Panama City (PTY). The longest route I did on the 320 was from Toronto (YYZ) to Victoria, B.C.(YYJ). On the 319, I flew from Grenada (GND) to Toronto (YYZ).
Jack: What are the biggest differences between flying the Airbus versus the last plane you flew?
Matthew: Overall, the biggest difference would be the size and weight of each. The last plane I flew before the Airbus was a Beechcraft 1900D which is a turboprop and only seats 18 passengers. Compare that to the 321 that seats 200, the 320 that seats 162, and lastly the 319 that seats 136. Now I fly a jet and it’s all about momentum and speed management. With jets you can’t just “slow down and go down.” Jets take a bit longer to spool up so it’s all about planning ahead. With a turboprop, you can change the pitch of the props to really slow. Then, you go down quickly. It’s power is almost instant. My favourite plane to fly is the 321 because it just feels like a big plane and it typically lands much nicer than the others.
Jack: OK, what are the differences between the 321, 320 and 319?
Matthew: The biggest difference between them all is their length and size. The 321 has a different fuel system. Its flaps auto-retract during take-off when heavy. In regards to the spoilers, with the 321 and 319, you always have full spoilers to slow you down in flight. By comparison, the 320 has the use of only half spoilers when it’s in flight. The maximum pitch angle on landing and takeoff in a 321 is 7.5 degrees compared 10 degrees on a 320 or a 319. The 321 is like a limo. It’s comfortable and heavy. The 319 feels like a sports car: light and nimble.
Jack: What’s your favourite city to fly into?
Matthew: I have too many favourite cities to fly into but my number one will always be Toronto (YYZ). I grew up plane spotting as a kid and I always dreamt to take off and land at that same airport one day. To get to do that now is very surreal. In terms of scenery, I’d say Vancouver (YVR) or Las Vegas (LAS) because of the mountains and hills surrounding the airport. Los Angeles (LAX) is another one that I love because of the diversity of planes that fly in. It’s spotter’s heaven!
Jack: What do you do on your layovers?
Matthew: It depends how much time I have. On short layovers of less than 12 hours, you only have time to have a quick bite and to sleep for seven or eight hours before you’re off again. On the longer layovers of 15 to 30 hours, I tend to hang out with the captain or crew. I also always make time for a quick workout or swim, I try the various foods in that area and I always rest as much as I can before a flight. You always have the opportunity to enjoy the city or just take it easy by the beach or pool.
Jack: What’s your favourite route? Do you prefer long hauls, or a few short trips?
Matthew: Air Canada Rouge does a lot of single-day turns. One of my favourite ones to do is an early morning Florida turn. We leave about 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. and get back at roughly 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. It makes for an easy day. Another good one is the trip to Grenada because it’s a two-day trip. On the first day, you deadhead down as a passenger. I then have the evening for leisure. Then the next morning or afternoon, I hit the beach and have lunch. Then I fly home. I’d say we don’t have any long hauls on the airbus, but when you do a Liberia, Costa Rica or Panama turn, it can turn into a 14-hour duty day. You can get to China one way in the same amount of time we go there and back.
Jack: How many flights a day do you fly?
Matthew: It depends. Some days I do one flight but it can vary to up to four flights a day here at Air Canada. At my old company, I remember doing seven flights a day but it was short 30-minute to one-hour flights.
Jack: How often is the aircraft on autopilot?
Matthew: The nice thing about automation is that if the plane isn’t handling the way you want it, just shut off the autopilot. I’d say 98% of the time, autopilot is on. Although I tend to fly it on take-off to at least 10,000ft and on landing, usually on final approach at around 3,000ft, I’d take it off and hand fly it in. The interesting thing is that in an emergency situation, after getting the plane stabilized, it’s recommended to turn on the autopilot to help with the task and lighten the load to perform other checklist things or decision making.