And a cheering couple of snippets for the anti-European Airbus sceptics....
1) Last year Airbus sold more airliners than Boeing did. 375 to 329. Ten years ago, Airbus could barely sell one third as many jets as Boeing.
2) Since 9/11 Boeing has made 21,000 of your fellow aerospace industry workers redundant (1/3 of its workforce) and 9,000 more may follow. Airbus has trimmed 6,000 jobs, but by making temporary layouts, juggling with overtime arrangements and imposing shorter working weeks, the actual number of workers made redundant was 500.
3) How did Boeing not clinch the 737 order from Easyjet - an existing 737 operator, with existing Boeing spares infrastructure in place, appropriate ground handling equipment, appropriately rated pilots, etc? Simply to be worth the hassle of changing, the Airbus case must have been compelling.