Airbus has done a number of business-smart things, Boeing has cut costs by outsourcing to China and India to generate quarter-over-guarter short term results. Unfortunately they can’t make the CEO’s firing retroactive by about 5 years.
It helps that Airbus is also big in space technology and helicopters. Their decision to own 51% of the Bombardier C Series program is proving to be a very smart one as many airlines now want the plane.
Boeing outsources to China and India in order to get orders from China and India, just like Airbus does.