Airbus’ A350 XWB Project pilots have been heavily involved in cockpit and systems design and integrations from the operational perspective. The three remaining first flight test crew members, all of them Experimental Flight Test Engineers, will be working at dedicated flight test stations and managing the progress of the flight profile: 

Fernando Alonso, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 1982 and Head of Airbus Flight & Integration Test Centre since 2007, Patrick du Ché, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 2001 and currently Head of Development Flight Tests since 2012, and Emanuele Constanzo, Flight Test Engineer with Airbus since 2004 and lead Flight Test Engineer for the Trent XWB engine. 

The Airbus A350 XWB is a family of long-range, wide-body jet airliners under development by Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. It will carry 250 to 350 passengers in three-class seating, depending on variant.

The A350 was originally conceived in 2004 as a widely new design, but with a fuselage based on the A330. This was rejected by some prospective customers. The 2006 redesigned A350 was named by Airbus as the A350 XWB, where the XWB is an acronym extra wide body.

Airbus stated that it will be more fuel-efficient and have operating costs up to 8% lower than the Boeing 787. The launch customer for the A350 is Qatar Airways, which ordered 80 aircraft across the three variants. Development costs are projected to be US$15 billion. The airliner is scheduled to enter airline service in mid-2014. As of February 2013, 617 aircraft have been ordered.