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This was a bad misreading of Boeing's financial state - which I think John Leahy eventually fessed up to. The 737 never needed any subsidizing. It is, to this d

This was a bad misreading of Boeing's financial state - which I think John Leahy eventually fessed up to. The 737 never needed any subsidizing. It is, to this day the most popular delivered jet plan (although the 320 now has more orders). If you count by airframe, the 707 + 737 family still dominates. JL simply never could understand why the A320 wasn't beating the 737 and placed the blame for the A320 not selling better than the 737 on mythical subsidies that Boeing was supposedly providing. The real reason was Airlines stuck with the 737 instead of the A320 because the price was competitive, they had trained pilots, staff, and mechanics, and some people didn't want fly-by-wire and CFRP. The 777 had already passed the 747 as the main breadwinner well before the A380 took to the sky. Boeing had tried to launch two different 747 stretches and both failed. Airbus with government aid decided to launch the A380, even though there was significant evidence that the A340 was getting crushed against the 777.

Reason077 3y ago
Of course the A340 got crushed against the 777: it was a fairly inefficient quad jet in an era that nobody wanted quad jets anymore due to the relaxation of ETOPS rules. The twin A330, however, sold very well and still sells well today (A330neo), as does the larger A350.
diebeforei485 3y ago
The A340 was badly timed. ETOPS restrictions were loosened, making the 777 the better product for the vast majority of routes. The A340-500 in particular had great range and was used on the longest nonstop routes for some time, but it was replaced by the A380, 777-200LR, 787-9, and the A350-900.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Not just that, but lots of airspace and emergency airports opened when the USSR fell, making twin engine flights between the USA and Asia much more feasible.
devoutsalsa 3y ago
Quad/Tri jets made great sense when twin engine planes were limited by ETOPS regulations. [1] A 3+ engine jet could fly routes that twin engine planes could not, which meant the 3+ engine lower fuel economy wasn't a big deal. When twin engine jets could fly across the large bodies of water on routes previously served by quad/tri jets, the superior fuel economy of twin engine planes became a competitive advantage. 747s, a340s, and similar planes simply couldn't compete in routes efficiently served by twin engine planes. The a380 is a great plane for an airline like Emirates which primarily serves Dubai because there is a lot of tourism demand for long haul travel on a jet w/ huge passenger capacity. If you can keep an a380 full, it's a great plane. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS
- dsfyu404ed 3y ago
  >If you can keep an a380 full, it's a great plane. This goes for just about every largest of its kind piece of commercial cargo moving equipment.

Reason077 3y ago

Of course the A340 got crushed against the 777: it was a fairly inefficient quad jet in an era that nobody wanted quad jets anymore due to the relaxation of ETOPS rules. The twin A330, however, sold very well and still sells well today (A330neo), as does the larger A350.

diebeforei485 3y ago

The A340 was badly timed. ETOPS restrictions were loosened, making the 777 the better product for the vast majority of routes. The A340-500 in particular had great range and was used on the longest nonstop routes for some time, but it was replaced by the A380, 777-200LR, 787-9, and the A350-900.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Not just that, but lots of airspace and emergency airports opened when the USSR fell, making twin engine flights between the USA and Asia much more feasible.

devoutsalsa 3y ago

Quad/Tri jets made great sense when twin engine planes were limited by ETOPS regulations. [1] A 3+ engine jet could fly routes that twin engine planes could not, which meant the 3+ engine lower fuel economy wasn't a big deal. When twin engine jets could fly across the large bodies of water on routes previously served by quad/tri jets, the superior fuel economy of twin engine planes became a competitive advantage. 747s, a340s, and similar planes simply couldn't compete in routes efficiently served by twin engine planes. The a380 is a great plane for an airline like Emirates which primarily serves Dubai because there is a lot of tourism demand for long haul travel on a jet w/ huge passenger capacity. If you can keep an a380 full, it's a great plane. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS

dsfyu404ed 3y ago
>If you can keep an a380 full, it's a great plane. This goes for just about every largest of its kind piece of commercial cargo moving equipment.