Darryl

Yes Gearboy, you knew that I would come out to refute your Scarebus marketing hype once again. Do you get paid to think this way, or are you just in dire need of rehab?

First, the A380 will be a reality, however, it will be the Concord for the New Age - Built to save face, will never make a dime and the wrong plane at the wrong time. When the world said they needed to go fast, Boeing said that travel needed to be affordable. Hence, Europe went fast with the Concord (a bomb) and Boeing went big with the 747 (a complete success and the envy of the world). Now, let us fast-forward a few decades and Europe says, "Hey, let's go big," while Boeing has correctly forecasted the market (again) with speed because the capacity is there and it is now affordable. Sorry G-Boy, but your beloved Euro-Friends are about thirty-five years behind the game (again). I predict that ten of these things will be built and all will be sold to FedEx after the state airlines of the Scarebus membership find out that they have made a big (pun surely intended) mistake. With increased airport security, the inevitable boarding delays that will result and the threat of an aerial terrorist vehicle this big, it is just not going to gain the public trust. Sorry pal, too many souls in one basket, and far too attractive a target for the Bad Guys.

Second, the 737 old and only catered to Herb? Again, rehab will cure this false view of reality and set you free, my friend. Sure the original Fat Albert was bred out of the sixties, but the car in your garage was bred out of the days before Henry Ford, so does that make it antiquated or just a modern refinement? Plus, and put the crack pipe down for this one - Do you firmly believe that the 737's rolling out of Renton today are simple stretched copies of the 100 and 200 series? Me thinks that you need to take a look inside an NG and see for yourself. In the airplane business I have met very few people (and pilots are the most guilty of this philosophy) that blindly trust “cutting edge” technology. They trust the proven. The Boeings today are technological refinements, not rushed to the market, techno-wizardry marketing hype airplanes. They are competent, safe and reliable aircraft that turn a profit for a very long time returning the investment dollar many times over, and that is why Herb is so successful (I don’t remember what airline you fly for, but taking a swipe at Herb tells me it is not a very successful one). The 737 is the most successful airliner of all time, it is proven, trusted and in demand, out selling ALL AIRBUS PLANES COMBINED. Boeing got it wrong? NOT! As I have already advised – Put the Crack pipe down and the truth will set you free.

Lets now analyze your beloved Euro-Sled, shall we. If memory serves, the A320 came about in the early eighties (not quite a Spring Chicken anymore), and from that the rest of the Scarebus family was born by stretching, stretching some more, widening it a bit and adding some engines. Basically, the whole line grew out of that one plane (save the A300) and they all look the same. If the A380 is indeed built, it will be the first truly new airplane out of the factory in decades. An A340 is nothing but a big A320 and you can tell just by looking at them. A 737 looks nothing like a 747, which looks nothing like a 757, which cannot be mistaken for a 777. Boeing builds planes to meet the need, while your side took the cookie-cutter approach to airplane building. Innovative? I don’t think so.

I bet it did indeed pain you to write such words, but writing pure rubbish about a US company so rich in history, tradition and technology, while actually believing this rubbish, does have a way of eating away at ones innards. Keep in mind that Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed were designing, engineering and building aircraft long before your beloved consortium even dreamed of working together, because that was the only way that they could compete with the best aircraft manufacturers in the world, period! Look at the facts, my boy. The receiver of the *** kicking is not going to be whom you think it is. And no it won’t be sad for me – I’ll be laughing my *** off.

Good luck Don, and though it is not a Boeing, build the most butt-kicking and safe systems that the world will ever see and may it indeed be a very Merry Christmas for you and your family.