Originally Posted by
unworry
But to address a point on capitalism, the competition between A & B certainly stoked innovation in our industry
I'm not sure about that point. With two notable exceptions ( the A320 and 777 )* there is generally just-enough-innovation to keep up with the other. Neither wants to do anything really risky like a BWB, like the A380 should have been, because why bother?
Now that we're down to two global manufacturers the pace can slacken whilst they chip away at their 12,000 aircraft backlogs. That's not healthy competition. Neither is the careful dovetailing of widebodies so that one is not directly competing with the rival's.
It doesn't look like the Russians are gaining much traction as a competitor but if the Chinese can use their African and Asian influence to sell the C919 then perhaps we'll get back to a more innovative playing field. How will B and A compete with C when they're all using the same engines? They'll need to raise their airframe game.
* Interestingly in both cases the innovator was competing against TWO active rivals, not one.