PH From a pilots point of view I have to reluctantly agree with 18wheeler-Boeings integration of the pilot is far superior to Airbus.In the early 1980s the technical director of Airbus declared it was AIs intention to remove pilots from the front end-good
PR move.The A320 was supposed to be a step in this direction with its pilot button pusher/monitoring concept.I think AI have now accepted that,in our lifetime,pax will not climb aboard an a/c without at least one pilot in the cockpit.Unfortunately no significant design philosophy changes were made to the A330/340 when they were introduced.
On the other side of the coin,as SGB said, Airbus aircraft are far better built-go and have close look at a 747 then an A340.
Two reasons for this 1 airbus design specifications far higher 2 Airbus partners have engineering apprenticeships between 3 & 5 years .Boeing have a USA hire/fire approach with a lot more unskilled/semiskilled people(checkout the thread on FAA audit failures)
Airbus a/c are far more efficient than an equivalent Boeing - compare an A320 wing aerodynamically with any 737 ; no contest.
[This message has been edited by alosaurus (edited 28 November 2000).]