BA Airbus A320 with CRT Screens! My Picture.

British Airways Airbus A320 registered G-EUUP, photographed in what appears to be recent service, retains its original cathode ray tube (CRT)-based EFIS cockpit displays — a configuration that was standard equipment when the A320 family entered commercial service in 1988 but has become increasingly scarce across the global fleet. The A320's six-screen cockpit architecture, comprising two Primary Flight Displays, two Navigation Displays, and the dual ECAM pages, was groundbreaking at certification precisely because it replaced conventional electromechanical instrumentation with fully electronic displays. Those original displays, however, were CRT units — the same fundamental technology found in older television sets — rather than the flat-panel LCD screens that have become the industry standard across virtually all subsequent avionics upgrades and new-production aircraft.

The transition from CRT to LCD on legacy A320 family aircraft has been underway for well over a decade, driven by a combination of supply chain pressure, operational practicality, and regulatory push. CRT units are power-hungry, physically heavy, and notoriously difficult to read in high ambient light environments, including direct cockpit sunlight — a real operational limitation on approach or in climb. Replacement parts and serviceable units have grown increasingly scarce as the broader electronics industry abandoned CRT manufacturing, placing MRO shops in the uncomfortable position of cannibalizing displays from parted-out airframes. Thales and other avionics suppliers developed certified LCD retrofit kits that preserve the same crew interface and certification basis while delivering improved brightness, reduced weight, and dramatically lower failure rates. Most major carriers completed these upgrades years ago, making a CRT-equipped A320 in line service a genuine anomaly today.

For pilots operating the aircraft, the distinction between CRT and LCD A320 cockpits is more than cosmetic. CRT displays exhibit subtle color rendering differences, are prone to geometric distortion as the tubes age, and can exhibit image persistence or uneven brightness across the screen face — characteristics that experienced crews learn to manage but that represent a degradation from current-standard equipment. Pilots transitioning between CRT and LCD-equipped A320s within the same fleet or type rating environment will notice the visual differences immediately, particularly in the rendering of synthetic terrain on the ND and the sharpness of PFD symbology. The underlying systems logic and crew interface remain identical under FCOM procedures, so there is no distinct type qualification difference, but the ergonomic experience is meaningfully different.

The appearance of a CRT-equipped A320 in British Airways service in 2025–2026 points to the long tail of fleet modernization cycles that major carriers manage across hundreds of airframes. Even well-resourced operators with robust avionics programs carry individual aircraft at various stages of upgrade completion, and heavy maintenance slot availability, parts certification timelines, and financial prioritization all influence when specific registrations receive upgrades. The poster's comparison to CRT displays observed on the Saab 340 reflects a broader truth about regional and turboprop aviation, where smaller operators have historically deferred panel upgrades even longer due to cost constraints and limited regulatory pressure. Across the industry, the gradual disappearance of CRT instrumentation from passenger-carrying aircraft represents a quiet but significant milestone in the maturation of glass-cockpit technology — one that began with the very aircraft pictured.