The Europeans have proved once again as with the TGV & the Concorde & now the A380 - that this program is too big to fail - regardless of economics. However, in defense of the Europeans - I wouldnt mind a month off of vacation either !!
Concerning fiting into airports - AIRBUS has developed an interesting winf with minimal span increase - they are doing tricky things with their "tabbed" flaps - flaperon-ailerons to keep the wing span within 747 dimensions - while retaining low speed performance.
Dont know how they are going to kep the weight out of this bird - nor control the noise.
Based on the experiance with the LaGuardia A300 vertical stabilizer - I will stick with stodgy old Boeing - Boeing engineers are rediculously conservative ( and smart ) - not a bad trait for an airplane desiger ..
Concerning SU27's comment - I agree - the A340-100;200;300 were/are awful airplanes - they are underpowered & missed the payload range guarantee's since the get go ( poor aerodynamics, aero-elastics - you woun't find any weights bolted to Boeing spars to dampen aeroelastics - like the A340 has out board the outboard engines -) -
Concerning Oblaaspop's coment - The 747 has about a 74Kt speed advantage over the A340 due to its superior flutter suppression - SCREWW your climb performance babbay ! Ill park the barber poles @ .91 to make time - lets see the bus do that & stay together..
Concerning 747FOCAL's comment - a 747 tail DID "dishonorably" come off over Japan - killing all aboard ..
Concerning Burger THings' comment - The future AIRBUS crew will comprise a dog and a captain - the captain will be there to feed the dog & the dog will be there to bite the captain if he musses with the controls..
Concerning Zeke's comment - the 737NG STILL FLYS HIGHER, FASTER & LONGER than the A320 - its IS a fine old airplane.. The 777 has THE WORLDS MOST SUPERIOR Fly-by-WIRE system form a design standpoint - this is why Embraer copied it on the ERJ170 & Ive heard it will be in the next Bombardier aircraft. ..The 777 fbw has had a fraction of the ADs against it compared to AIRBUS.. I will grant you the 777 control column backdrive system is a bit hokey .. seems light alot of weight, cost & complexity - just to say they weren't following AIRBUS's sidestick lead ..