Portly,
You are quite obviously an Airbus fan(atic) and that is fine there are worse things to be
.
But seriously, while I agree there are things that Boeing could have improved on the NG I certainly do not agree that it is a deathtrap as you elude to. Lets have a look at some of your beefs with the NG.
Alerting systems - so it does not have EICAS/ECAM and cutsey schematics of the systems. Not really a life or death issue.
Alpha floor protection - while I am sure this is an interesting system ( I do not know too much about it)and probably has its benefits any pilot worth their salt should never put himself in a position that the computer has to "take over". It didn't do much for the Gulf Air crew did it??
Rudder design - the jury is still out on that one so I will not comment except to say that if it were as serious as some would have us believe then B737s should be falling out of the sky each and every day. There are over 3000 in service worldwide.
Speedbrake design - what is wrong with the speedbrake besides being not being as effective as I would like at lower speeds??
Boeing QRH and manuals - OK you got me, that is why most airlines develop their own procedures based on but not verbatim from the Boeing stuff. We use a version of the QRC system developed by United and it is in my opinion the best checklist philosophy I have seen to date. If the Airbus checklists and manuals are anything like the ATR42 stuff I have one word for you "Franglais". The ATR manuals and checklists were the most archaic, longwinded and generally usless pieces of paper I have come across and the manuals in some instances were so poorly translated that you had to guess at the meaning.
Why would Boeing certify the NG as a "new aircraft" when it isn't. Airbus had to do this for the A320 family because it was a new aircraft not a variant of an existing model. The 757/767 and the 777 were certified as new aircraft because that is what they were, new. Was the B717 certified as new, I don't think so it is just a variant on the DC9 as were the MD80 series.
I am sure I am not going to change your mind on this, but lets see how many A320s are around 34 years after the start of production. I flew a 25 year old B737-200 yesterday and it is still going strong.
Remember if it's not Boeing I'm not going.
Cheers
Canuck