The Advantages of Commonality
KC-45 tanker operations will benefit from the aircraft's significant commonality with the world's best-selling family of fly-by-wire commercial airliners.
Common flight decks, similar handling characteristics and shared operating procedures for the A330, A340, A318, A319, A320 and A321 allow pilots to transition easily from one type of aircraft to another with minimal additional training.
More than 1,600 of these fly-by-wire airliners have been delivered to North American customers, including Frontier Airlines, jetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways. This number will increase to over 2,200 in the coming years, from the single-aisle A318/A319/A320/A321 series to the long-range A330/A340 widebodies and the double-deck A380.
The commonality factor could facilitate the U.S. Air Force's creation and management of a KC-45 pilot pool - allowing it to easily draw from the growing number of military reserve crewmembers who operate Airbus aircraft in commercial airline service.
In addition, KC-45 hardware commonality with the growing commercial fleet of A330s and A340s will result in lower life cycle and operational costs, a plentiful supply of spare parts, and the guarantee of continued upgrades and improvements from the aircraft manufacturer.
