I'm a bit lost
Google isn't so efficient to translate correctly. Anyway! Just see some questions about the meaning of "retard".
The word "retard" is a reminder to pilots to bring the thrust levers to idle during the landing maneuver, known as the "flare," just prior to touchdown. If the autothrottles are engaged, which they are most of the time on highly-automated aircraft such as the Airbus, the thrust will go to idle on its own just prior to touchdown on landing.
On Airbus planes, the thrust levers themselves don't move with the autothrottles engaged, so it’s a reminder for the pilot bring the thrust levers all the way back to idle to match the thrust setting of idle for landing. If the pilot ignores the directive, the thrust will still be at idle, however, regardless of the position of the thrust levers.
If the autothrottles aren’t on (they're left off sometimes for practice), then it’s telling the pilots to bring the thrust to idle by bringing the thrust levers back all the way. It’s basically the same directive as when the autothrottles are engaged, but in one case it’s a reminder that thrust is being reduced automatically, and in the second case it’s a reminder to the pilot to reduce the thrust manually.
Here's an interesting tidbit. I noticed during my experience on the Airbus that the fact the throttles don't move when the autothrottles are engaged drives a lot of guys nuts, but, for whatever reason, the women I flew with didn't seem to mind. This held true for me as well. It didn't bug me that the thrust levers didn't move when the thrust was changing, but many of the guys I flew with said it just didn't seem right and they found it mildly disconcerting.
Karly
Ahaha, funny French, even their plane makes US pilots crazy. A request to change this call out will be send to Airbus, for sure.
