Boeing vs. Airbus?

Question

Who do you choose?

Answer 1

Boeing. Their planes are made for the more efficient, pleasanter form of air travel, point to point, while the Airbus is built for outdated hub-to-hub travel.

Answer 2

Boeing.
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It probably depends on where you ask that question. We Americans were used to building the worlds airliners. Boeing fairly started the jet travel age with their 707 and then dominated the industry for decades until Airbus came along.
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There is no getting around the fact that basically every Boeing and Airbus aircraft has been a variation of the original Boeing 707 with pylon mounted engines on swept low wings. That design itself echos back to the Boeing B-47.
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Both build fine airplanes. Boeing seems to have the superior product line at the moment. The 787 is the long awaited plane that will set the pace for airliners of the future.
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Answer 3

I would choose Boeing because of their history and assurance but I would really like it if I could fly an Airbus 380 once.

Answer 4

When I do go as a passenger....I'm more comfortable on a Boeing...
But true passenger comfort comes from the individual airlines and how they configure the seats, amenities etc..
Either aircraft can be a cramped sardine can...depending on configuration...
Perhaps a better thread might be "Best/Worst Airline"

Oh and another important point....there are many, many more old Boeings in service than there are Airbus'
Many of these a/c are plying the skies in Africa and the MidEast operated by some very dodgy characters...who really don't give a toss about maintainence, There are literally hundreds of small carriers operated by the 'President's Second Eldest Son' or the like and it's a testement to American 'over-engineering' that they continue to fly.

Answer 5

Boeing. And not because I'm American (I'm not) and not because I hate the French.

Boeings are better built. Airbus tries to make it just strong enough to pass the tests (and sometimes fails spectacularly). I don't know about anyone else but when I am flying through a line of thunderstorms I am not thinking about how light and efficient the plane is, I am hoping they built it stronger than they had to.

As far as Boeing 737s crashing more than A320s it depends on your point of view. The 737 production started in 1967 so many of the earlier aircraft have high hours and are in service in third world countries with shoestring operators. Also many of the incidences have been due to human error (like the loss of pressurization on the Helios 737 or the mid air collision of the Gol Transportes Aéreos, Flight 1907 737). It is the best selling airliner in the world (not bad for a 40 year old design) and operators swear by it.

The rudder reversal issue is pure hogwash (I have never encountered the problem and neither has any of the operators of the 737s I've worked on, West Jet, Alaska Airlines, and Southwest).

Sure they are both computer controlled (Boeing only to a certain degree excepting the 777) but the Boeing does what the pilot tells it to do (if the Air France A320 that crashed during the air show was ANY Boeing airliner, the engines would have at least spooled up when the pilot shoved the thrust levers forward).

As for the politics, who cares. Airbus gets subsidies, Boeing gets R & D grants and large padded defence contracts. They both lie, cheat, and steal... they are corporations after all.

And as far as where they are made? Airbuses have things like Honeywell avionics, GE engines, Goodyear tires, Goodrich landing gear and hydraulics etc that are made in the good ol' US of A. Boeing components are made by Rolls Royce in the UK, Alenia in Italy, ASTA in Australia, BAE Systems in UK, Bombardier Shorts in UK, Embraer in Brazil, Korean Air, and Singapore Aerospace and many others.

But if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going.

Answer 6

When Airbus has been around as long as Boeing, only then can you talk about crashes and such. I remember the first Airbus's has a horrible safety record (and still don't have a great one).

Boeing has been building airplanes since 1916. Airbus has only been around since 1970.

If Airbus lasts as long as Boeing, then talk about safety and accidents. In their short existence, Airbus has had a pot full of crashes.

http://www.aviationexplorer.com/airbus_accidents.htm

Answer 7

Airbus is a more innovative company, and that is a fact than nobody can deny.

Most talk of Boeing like it is the best, just because it's older, and so, more capable... No way. Boeing slept in the last years, and because of that, Airbus gained more strength. Only now, with all the problems of A380, Boeing was take a very slight lead, but for how long? Just wait till A380 becomes to its routine delivery program, and you'll see how Airbus will easily regain first place.

Answer 8

What? Again? Still Airbus because I check the figures instead of believing the FUD. Airbus are more economical and have a better safety record and a much bigger order book than Boeing. They don't lie and manipulate the press either. Boeing loses 737s at four times the rate Airbus loses A320s. Boeing is less honest about addressing their issues, like the rudder reversal issue that killed so many people.

You people believe so much garbage. Boeing is as computerized as Airbus because they have to be to get the efficiency. Boeing has glass cockpits just like Airbus, Boeing has FADEC just like airbus, Boeing flies everywhere on autopilot just like Airbus.

Airbus and Boeing have a slightly different opinion of where the industry is going, and from the order books it looks like the industry agrees with Airbus this year.

Airbus and Boeing both make good aircraft, but I'd rather fly on an Jet Blue A320 than a Southwest B737 or a United anything! I'd rather be on an A380 than a B787 on a long trip.

DeHavilland started the jet age with the Comet in 1949, Boeing came along in 1957, late to the game, but the square windowed Comets had killed a lot of people by then (stress/fatigue cracks from the corners of the windows caused catastrophic failures). The round windowed Comets were eventually stabbed in the back by the Ministry of Transport who backed BOAC's order for RR Conway engined B707s instead of Comet 4Cs. The Comet 4 still flies as the Nimrod, reliable despite 40 years at 200 feet over the oceans. When the production plant was closed Boeing recruited many of the workers. The Comet 5 would have had pod mounted RR Conway engines, a similar configuration to the 707 but with that lovely swallow wing.

Answer 9

if it aint boeing, i aint going. The airbus is a fine aircraft, but i prefer the boeing 1. because its an American company, 2. they have been in the business of getting you there in one piece for a long, long, long time. Having been up close and personal with both manufactures aircraft, the boeing seems to be built a bit tougher. the A320, the one I was on at least, was a creaking, sloppy airplane. Compare it to an OLD 737, not contest. That bird is like an M-1 Abrams with wings.

Answer 10

I prefer to sit in the tail section: better survivability in case of a crash.

And that section rattles most in an Airbus.

I prefer Boeings. I know if I go down in one, the shareholders will suffer a loss: when an Airbus goes down, the cost just comes out of some poor European farmer's taxes...

Answer 11

wel i will weigh in because i build the mcdonnell douglas
c-17. it is not a boeing or the flimsier airbus. douglas
plane, yes mcdonnell douglas are the best built and will outlast boeing and airbus planes hands down. the a-380 is a cheap copy of the mcdonnell douglas MD-12 that was designed in the 80's the dc-3 is still making money flying
passengers and freight. the whole dc/md line are very
overengineered and so far have outlasted many other planes.