An (un)professional, (un)serious, (un)scientific and totally unbiased comparison of the Airbus A320ceo and the Boeing 737-800

I have a very short 1100km commute from home to my college.
As much as I'd love to set a new endurance walking record, time constraints and bodily limitations usually force me to search for alternative means of transport.

The iron roads of the Indian Railways are dependably undependable, especially when the fog rolls in as winter snuggles into it's covers up North.

So, this time, I chose to fly from home to college. This simple task was made complicated by Pratt and Whitney's PW1100G Geared Turbofan Engines being not so hot, so it would involve 2 flights, and a 6 hour layover in between.

However - the aviation enthusiast in me was delighted. For, the aforementioned GTF engines had forced my friendly neighbourhood airline IndiGo to wet-lease aircraft from a variety of sources - Corendon Airlines, Qatar Airways and SmartLynx Estonia, as far as I know. This meant that the ordinary hop in one of any A320/A321neos could now be accomplished on a veritable smorgasbord of options!

I boarded YL-LDX, an A320-214 built in 2007 and powered by 2 CFM56 high bypass turbofans for the first leg of my journey. This Latvian registered airframe bears the MSN 3221, and has previously flown for multiple Chinese carriers.
Today, I was greeted by a barebones interior - still retaining signs in a foreign language on the (very flimsy) tray tables! The seats were also bare, with just a leatherette cover and very little padding. Nevermind, the airconditioning was strong and the pilot's cheerful voice rang out over the cabin PA. The flight was smooth, and the 17 year old aircraft was only slightly loud, and I could'nt feel anything out of the ordinary. 

The next 6 hours were then spent in a questionably productive manner, as I listened to lectures, walked through the terminal looking for (normal) food, and soon I walked to the jet-bridge(!!!!) to board my next flight.

This time, I boarded TC-COH, a Boeing 737-8EH about 12.5 years old and powered (again) by 2 CFM56 high bypass turbofans. I was really excited, as this would be the first time I'd fly on a Boeing! [I think I have flown on a SpiceJet 737 many years ago, but can't recall the experience :(((] This Turkish registered airframe bears the MSN 35850 and Line Number 4124. It's previously flown for GOL, Avolon and SpiceJet, but has been owned for a while by Corendon Airlines. The interior was fully featured for an all-economy aircraft - plush seats, big(ish) tray tables and all interior signs being localized! The cabin felt more roomy - the overhead bins are designed to close upward and into the ceiling, which gives more percieved headroom.


And that's where the positives ended. The airconditioning was hopelessly inadequate - I was sweating in my leatherette seat from pushback to deboarding.
The 737 is much lower to the ground - a side effect of it's 1960s design, and that has led to the modern highbypass engines being fitted closer to the fuselage.
Thus, the cabin is LOUD. I enjoyed the sound during takeoff, but the cruise was loud enough to overwhelm my noise-cancelling headphones and leave me with a headache. To make matters worse, the plane sounded like a bag of bolts being thrown down the runway at speed, which is not an enjoyable soundtrack.

My back did, however, appreciate the cushy seatback. And the view from row 14 on the 737 was certainly better than the one on row 14 on the A320.

So - from my totally unbiased and scientific research on a sample size of one aircraft each - the Airbus A320 is much, much better than the Boeing 737. I will not be taking any questions on this fact at this time.


The view from seat 14F onboard YL-LDX


The view from seat 14F onboard TC-COH


Enjoy this song too :)





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