I thought boeing said that the Large Aircraft market was just about flat, could it be a touch of sour grapes. Boeing have sat on their hands and let Airbus develop a full compliment of tools for the job. At the end of the day if the bus burns less fuel and can lift as much freight in either version then the accountants will dictate, the days of Trippe are over my friends, Accoountants and shareholders run airlines not people with aviation in their blood.
As for an upper deck being too high - have you stood at the top of a B744 upper deck slide and looked down, bloody scary!! The A380 cant be that much significantly higher.
As for government subsidies to fund projects, if it means job creation then why not. The US seem to have their cake and eat it. I dont particularly like that they have 2/5 of the worlds automobiles and wont sign the treaty on reduction of green house gases because it would inhibit their economy. Sorry but if my tax is used to create jobs and wealth for the area that I live in then its bloody well spent!
Put it this way, the B757 is a fantastic looking aircraft, basic and robust able to do a great variety of missions. But it burns about a ton more fuel than an A321 per hour and the cabin is tiny. Its a good ship just out of date and will disappear quckly as long as fuel prices stay high, hence the older B744 with their aging aircraft issues (as aircraft get older they require more maintenance and burn more fuel = more cost) what do you think will happen. Why does SIN regularly update its fleet, young aircraft more fuel efficient and require less maintenance. So for freight yes the B744 will win as airlines turn them out of their fleets, but the real winner for Boeing will be their B777 as it is more fuel efficient and has lower operating costs. I think the B747 has had its day. Any modifications of the basic model is still a compromise on the original design that is over 30 years old.
The A380 will have its problems, mostly associated with airports and handling but when has that ever been any different and was worse with the arrival of the B747 as aircraft of its size have not seen the light of day.
Anyhow time will tell what chice was right but I think that Boeing will be pushed out of the large aircraft market (pax).
Lets hope we see both types continue to fly for a long time, it is still a great scene to see 260+ tonnes get airborne!