The 747 flew in 69. The recession hit hard in 73. Why should AB accept a consortium from a company with no VLA contender? They have the market for themselves, and have seen it will be a long term moneyspinner over the next 40 years, with no opposition. All without American buyers- the 747 succeeded on foreign orders, not American buyers. American airlines cannot afford this plane- too big for their domestic market. They will continue to operate 777s in opposition, along with an exciting range of archaic 767/757!
So AB is in debt. Er...so is Boeing, and so was Boeing in the 70s when Seattle went very dark. Quite how close Boeing came to full bankruptcy is still not generally known. But they persevered and had a moneyspinner on their hands.
The 380 is a superb achievement. AB deserves success with it. I don't understand the harping on about failure- no aircraft program goes into profit for years. AB has concluded they will succeed with it- I totally agree. I see exactly the same course of events repeated 38 years later, in all respects. it's uncanny- the timing, the recession, the state of the industry, the future potential. And the same outcome. So sorry if it is boring, but to calls of failure, there will be the same robust defence, because although some can't see it yet, they have a winner. Look at the orders. Still to get underway with the non-US majors. And then fleet increases.