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Thanks for the ping, the bias here is silly and misinformed. Its OK to bag on the French, but to carry it to an airplane that is built by a consortium of countries and carries a hell of a lot of American built parts is stupid.

Airbus makes good planes, Boeing makes good planes, Embraer makes good planes, they all compete and make each other better. My airline is going to be the launch customer of the A350, should be fun.

The A380 is a niche plane, they aren't being built to service every route in the world, just medium long range high density routes. The plane is being built primarily for the needs of Asian carriers that operate from slot controlled airports and for Middle Eastern carriers that can afford to outfit their cabins with extravagance that their customers will pay for. And it will be a hell of a good cargo plane. The A380 may not make a profit for a while, but hats off to Airbus for pushing the envelope and building it. Airbus makes its dough from the A318/319/320/330/340 aircraft.

Be aware that much of the derision that Airbus gets here is due to the fact that the company has grown cocky and arrogant over the past few years, as if the company does no wrong and offers the best planes for every market and every customer. Reminds me of Japan in the early 90's, right before their economy tanked. Therefore, if they lose an order, its because Boeing 'cheated' somehow, factors other than 'economics' were involved, yadda yadda. Pot, kettle anyone? This business with AI is just freaking hilarious, and now they send a letter to the Japanese govt complaining about the lack of Airbus sales there?

If Boeing pulled this crap, they would get the same reaction. They need to realize the 777 and 787 are damn good planes that are superior to most of their offerings for the markets that these airlines are buying for right now, that's why they are getting their asses handed to them lately.

If the A380 development was funded with private money and provided competition for Boeing, I would not criticize it. I would still favor Boeing, because in my opinion the development of the 747 is one of the greatest capitalism success stories.

Instead, the A380 development was subsidized with a seemingly bottomless pocket of public funds, with the goal of putting Boeing out of business.

I am all for competition - it creates better, cheaper products. My dislike of the A380 has nothing to do with product quality.

Thank you. This one-sided bashing, deserved or not, isn't very informative, so your input (being an aviation enthusiast and a veteran in the field) is refreshing.