I will second the above. QF will be going French to some extent, but Boeing will also get a slice of the order, maybe not as much as what people may expect. From an accountant neighbour, the Bus is now close to the finish line on dollars, but Mr Boeing may make a late dash down the straight. However, it seems they will not discount as much now as they are not as desperate to sell their a/c as production is pretty full on due to several large recent orders. Airbus really want a large slice of this order as they are now way behind Boeing for the year.
Also, the Boeing fleet will take a lot more time to come. With the Bus, there isn't much of a wait on 340's at the moment compared to the tripler, and they could be here pretty quick (even though the 350's will be a bit longer, due to Boeing sales, none of the 787's could be ready for Qantas before the 350 anyhow). Not to mention Airbus is desperate to get some 340's down this way and some more 350 orders on the books (again $ will get some here).
Pure speculation from a financial person, but they have been close to the mark on more than one occassion. Time will tell.
Perhaps QF should have made the decision earlier in the year, and then the Boeings would have probably won hands down.
