Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Is Airbus In Crisis Mode?

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Is Airbus In Crisis Mode?: "Back around 1999-2000-2001, when both Boeing and Airbus were deciding what airframe would be the future of their respective companies for the next 10 years, Boeing chose wisely and Airbus chose poorly. Airbus, flush with injected R&D cash from European government subsidies, had to pour their money into something big, and chose the behemoth A380. Much as with the decision to build the Concorde back in the early 1970s, they decided more based on spending their subsidies than on what customers want. The Concorde, after proving to be a technological triumph but an economic disaster, ultimately failed to even reach the 20-order mark.

Boeing, on the other hand, focused more on the trends apparent even then (pre-9/11) that would shape the airline industry of the 21st century. Among the trends of which I speak: over-flying existing hubs (particularly in Europe and Asia), transpacific staging (moving from all 747s from LAX and SFO to 777s from all over the US), and a combination of bilateral liberalization (lots of Open Skies) and expanding airports (HKG, NRT, SIN, etc.) leading to more frequency and smaller aircraft."