Airbus A380 blows £1bn ( ~$1.95 Billion) hole in budget

I don't think the fall of the dollar is healthy for the US, but in this case, it probably doesn't help the EU much. But because Boeing have so much of the plane design outsourced, it will only make paying for that more expensive for Boeing with the weaker dollar, so in the very short term it might look a bit better on paper, but it won't help in the long term because any gains will eventually catch back up to boeing in the form of greater costs.

The main reason people have chosen Airbus planes, to my knowledge, is price. The other reason could be cockpit commonality, which would facilitate a greater ability to leverage pilot training across multiple airframes. On the first count, Boeing have said, per the new CEO Stonesipher, they will not do an unprofitable airplane deal. Airbus have been rumored to do plenty of unprofitable deals with heavy discount to gain market share, hoping that due to their cockpit commonality, it will make for an easier profitable sale down the road.

On the second count, boeing really should have moved toward cockpit commonality sooner, although now they are on board with it. This is one of the good things about having a second viable aircraft manufacturer.

In terms of performance and pure operating economics, Boeing wins almost every time. The one exception to this is the class currently dominated by the A330-300, hence the 7E7.

My son flies Airbus 319s and 320s for a major airline. When his company started buying Airbus planes he was switched over from the Boeing 727s he had flown for quite a few years. He says the Airbus is much more fuel efficient than the 1960's vintage 727, and the fly by wire system is nice after getting used to it, but he would much rather be flying the new generation Boeings.

The French are trying to put Boeing out of business by underselling it. The airlines can get Airbus planes at 10-15% less than a comparable Boeing with nothing down and no interest, and no payments due for up to five years after delivery. A privately owned manufacturer like Boeing can't compete with that kind of government subsidized cut throat pricing even though it's products are better.

In real world terms Airbus has to be losing money big time, but of course the socialized European taxpayers are making up the losses so it can show a paper profit. The US should put a huge duty on Airbus products until the Eurofascists stop this attempt to kill off one of our most strategically important industries. Free trade may be OK according to the economists, but this kind of deliberate government subsidized attack on our economy and our defense industry is the farthest thing from free trade.

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