Just in case Rumsfeld isn't looking, Old Europe just rolled out the A380 Airbus. Geez those people are out of date. Sad about their technological backwardness.

I wonder when any of our airlines will acquire one of those big boys?

I know, Airbus is subsidized. That, too, has got to be an old fashioned means of development. Imagine, a cooperative, subsidized industry making technological developments. Something must be wrong with their methodology.

Shouldn't you wait to see how successful it is before you start making snide remarks?

Seems the rhetoric that comes from political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic is working. Much easier to pander to the voters myopic view of the world and their own nations place in it than to talk about the economic reality of "we need them and they need us."

The fact is many European companies would be in serious trouble without access to the walking wallets known as the American consumer. BMW, Siemans, Maersk Lines, Agfa, Ahold, Delhaize, Duetsche Bank, Barclay's, Societe General, Nestle, etc, etc, etc would be gasping if they had to rely on the relatively frugral European consumer.

The same can be said for McDonald's, Coke, Pepsi, GE, Microsoft, Cisco, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Hollywood, etc. etc, etc. without access to the markets of Europe.

Yes, Boeing and Airbus are big competitors. But, both are far better off being driven by a strong competitor than they would be as monopolies that have no reason to be innovative.

So, let the political speech-writers and party-hacks in Washington, London, Paris, etc. play the nationalistic card. Those of us in the real world understand the real story.

If anyone in the US is under the delusion that Beoing isn't "subsidized" they've been on Venus for far too long.

It is always a good idea to "demonize" your opponents since it helps to build resentment and hatred against them.

I'll leave my comments about snide remarks to the "expert" in that field who has already commented.

Hopefully, the initial flights of the A380 are not as disasterous as one of the first A320 flights, which crashed (full of dignitaries) shortly after takeoff in eastern France.

SMueller,
For the sake of accuracy, if it's the crash you're thinking of for the A320 at the Mulhouse-Habsheim airshow, I believe the final ruling was pilot error, not an aircraft malfunction. From what I recall, the pilots ignored a warning system of low altitude as they thought they were at 100 feet, when in actuality it was 30 feet.