Originally Posted by
WillieTheWimp
BTW 785 orders is relatively small. A320 family alone have 10,000 plus in service with a backlog of around 7000.
But I'm sure even you see the flaw in comparing a programme in it's infancy to one that's nearly 40 years old.
Remember there was also a time that DC3s then 727s ruled the sky, but then the world moved on and times changed.
I'd speculate that once a -500 goes into production it will cement the 220 as the popular family of the next 40 years.
Airbus themselves suspect as much, which is why they need the existing manufacturing process to mature before developing the -500.