[Cacophonous]

Airbus is subsidized by the government of France (and, I think, Italy and Germany). IT CANNOT LOSE MONEY; it is therefore always going to beat Boeing, which is not subsidized to the same degree (I know some US dollars go into it). That only proves that free trade cannot exist between differing economic systems. Of course JetBlue and other airlines are going to buy from Airbus; they are artficially cheaper. I'm advocating slapping a tariff on Airbus so that Boeing can compete with them.

[CWOJackson]

So you believe it would be okay for Boeing to have a government protected monopoly in this country? You're not worried that Boeing Executive's wouldn't convince key Congress people to make import tariffs higher and higher on Airbus so they could keep jacking up their own prices?

[Missouri]

Airbus is subsidized by the government of France (and, I think, Italy and Germany

Excellent point. (4 countries subsidize Airbus, France, Spain, and two others).

Boeing would have been in big trouble right now if they had not merged with McDonnell-Douglas thus getting a hold of those defense dollars.

[jayef]

I'm not sure why people always make this argument. Are you really convinced that subsidized companies will do better than completely private companies in the long run? You might want to think about who you call a Marxist.

[Alberta's Child]

Actually, Boeing is probably just as heavily-subsidized as Airbus, though the subsidies are indirect. Just about all of Boeing's R&D costs for new technology are financed by contracts for military aircraft. Someone who knows more about this than me might be able to quantify this, but I would venture to guess that alomst all of the technology used in civilian aircraft was first used in military aircraft.