[DennisR]

Airbus shot themselves in the foot when they decided to go with the a380 instead of competing with the a350 against the Boeing 787 right away. Now they are way behind the 8-ball.

[spetznaz]

I'd say the persistent problems faced by the Dreamliner has been Boeing's way of ensuring that Airbus not only caught up, but actually managed to win deals that should have been sole Boeing territory. The A380 coming first, and the A350 later, now looks like a stroke of luck - or genius. The a380 has done well, and Airbus has learned from the mistakes of the Dreamliner when it comes to the A350. For instance, not doing the same thing Boeing did regarding next gen batteries. Airbus benefited from Boeing's mistakes. Some years ago it appeared that it was Airbus that made a huge.(literally) mistake going for the A380, with Boeing pulling a masterstroke with the Dreamliner. Reality since then has been inverse to prior expectation. Even Ethiopian Airlines is on Boeing's case regarding the Dreamliner, and problems remain persistent.

Oh, and apparently the Dreamliners over in Japan have started switching off their engines for no explainable reasons ....