[Hodar]

The very next sentence states that they plan to hit the break-even point in 2015, despite the drop in the US dollar and delays.

As with any industry, you plan and risk for the future. My beef is that I’m seeing some other companies plan, deliver and showcase the future - while I see Boeing polishing and making minor modifications to a ~40 yr old design.

Yes, the 747 is established, yes it is reliable. Keep making it, by all means; but also plan for what you want to do for the next 10 years. The flying wing design is a huge step in the right direction.

[TalonDJ]

The flying wing design is a huge step in the right direction.

I was a subcontracter for them when Boeing was considering what to make next (before the 787) and I can tell you they thought VERY hard about building that flying wing. There are a lot of reasons they didn't. One is that it would not fit well at existing airport gates.

[Yo-Yo]

The very next sentence states that they plan to hit the break-even point in 2015, despite the drop in the US dollar and delays.

What Hans Ring was saying in the sentence you pointed to is that Airbus hopes to break even on the production cost of an individual aircraft by 2015. Which means that today it costs Airbus more to manufacture an A380 than they sold it for, ignoring R&D costs.

As they gain experience, the production cost will go down, and by 2015 it should cost less to make than the aircraft sold for. Then you can begin to recoup your R&D costs, which is why they need to sell at least 420 aircraft to break even for the entire A380 project.

But first they have to win 420 orders, which is not going to happen by 2015.