"I'm afraid they will turn to the Toulouse Cartel." ....more Airbus bashing, yawn. I know this subject has been raised before, but the my plane/country is better than yours really gets me down. Not all listers on this list take part in that, but some do. I won't bash Boeing. But I can see beyond the Airbus Illegal Subsidy line. At the beginning, Airbus had no choice. Getting the A300 off the ground privately would have been nigh on impossible without government assistance. Does that mean they shouldn't have done it when Airbus directly or indirectly employs over 100,000 people, many in the US? Back in the early 1970's, Boeing would have been turning out maybe 200 jets a year, how can you compete with that on a level playing field? I'm not blaming Boeing at all, its just that competition has done them no harm. In the 1970's it was McDD, now its Airbus. Its also worth remembering that the average Boeing contains many parts made worldwide, as does the average Airbus. Airbus can't sell aircraft directly to any country the US doesn't get on with because of trade restrictions. They are two great manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, and fleet decisions are taken on a massive number of factors, not just price. It seems to be the general opinion of this list that Boeing build quality is better (I don't know myself), Airbus commonality is better re pilot cross qualification. But the following are all relevant when airlines buy aircraft: route structures, pallet vs bulk baggage loading, airline history, national (and international) politics, maintenance deals and proximity to third party maintenance companies, related models for future growth, powerplant preferences, SFC of powerplants, home base hangar size, airbridge/ airstairs preferences, pricing of future orders, build slots, seating preferences, future support of the model, etc etc etc Its true that Airbus grew with assistance from European governments, but commercial Airbuses in government service (military or otherwise) are tiny in number compared to Boeing's presence with (in particular) the KC-135 and now (or soon) the B767. Wide chord fanned engines were developed with US Government assistance firstly for the C-5, allowing the 747 to have sufficient power. As a European, Airbus is all we've got. I grew up not far from Prestwick, that great staging post of the past, now reborn as a low cost hub for Scotland. They built the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer there, and later the Bae Jetstream 31/32/41, the Waterski man's ride. Now? Substructures for Airbus. That's all the UK aircraft industry can manage. No one saw regional jets beyond the first generation such as the Bae 146. Good luck to the Canadians and Brazilians, who had the bottle to keep investing. Anyway, that's getting offtopic a bit. So come on, give the Euro bashing a rest. It gets wearing after a while. Remember that many on this list are not blessed with being US citizens. Doesn't make us lesser people. By the way, my own fave aircraft to fly on is the 777. And I can still watch/photograph aircraft without getting arrested here... ;-) Jim