Originally Posted by
EEngr
Back in the late '90s, we (at Boeing) were shown a graph of commercial aircraft production, Boeing vs Airbus. The Boeing production rates swung wildly as demand ebbed and flowed while the Airbus rates were a smooth ramp, heading upwards. Management was complaining about the expense involved with having to staff up every time their was an uptick in production.
Question - did no-one think to point out that Airbus had been battling their way up to be a contender in the western jetliner market since the mid-'70s (and only really got traction in the early '90s), whereas Boeing had been duking it out for the top spot from the '60s onwards?