What about Airbus's credibility?
Much as I admire Airbus - and I genuinely do - I think they've got themselves into a very serious situation with their widebodies; it's not just the fact that the A350 has been the winner of this year's Edsel Award for Product Development, but the fact that there are very few airlines happy with the A340's performance (particularly the -600) and then, the delivery delays.
I can't help wondering how foolish airlines that have ordered the A350 must feel - not the "fluffy" ones, but the good ones, like Finnair. How embarrassing must this be?
Even if the A370 (as it's rumoured to be called) comes to fruition and outdoes the 787, how much credence will be put in Airbus's figures; remember that Airbus has been insisting that the A350 would beat the 787 in almost every field and there are existing Airbus widebodies which fall short of airlines' performance promises. That's not a healthy combination.
This is a disaster for Airbus because the 250-350 seat long haul market is one of the biggest in the business and now, Airbus is coming close to losing it. For airlines, this is a massive commitment to; take an airline like Aer Lingus - an established Airbus customer, but also one which facing a huge and extremely risky expense. It sees two competing manufacturers: one which has a brand new aircraft and which itself has a good record of turning aircraft out on schedule (take the 777 for example) and within performance promises. And there's another which, although the most suitable from a commonality viewpoint, has produced an aircraft which is not up to scratch, but which is producing figures which show it's ahead of the (brand new) competition, while its existing widebodies are cheesing off airlines all over the world. As a CEO or director, which would you see as the best risk?