Flight of the Titans

I am into the airline industry. When I was doing my Masters degree, my research papers for my coursework were mostly on or related to this industry. One of my papers got the highest score in my class and another is published in an academic journal.

I found the above book at a book fair. It's an interesting book about the race between Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Airbus is now winning. The A380 is already in service, while the 787 is still on the ground, with both flight test and (subsequently) delivery to the first customer delayed.

This race is not about size but rather two aircrafts with different propositions. One is large and the other smaller but has a longer distance coverage. Which do you choose if you are an airline CEO?

One problem with airline industry, similar to hotel industry, any unsold seats on a flight are gone forever. At times, it might be hard to fill up airline seats, so what's the use of having an aircraft with large capacity, with all those many possible unsold seats? Another problem is that few airports have the infrastructure (runways and terminals) that can accommodate such a large airliner.

I guess you know which aircraft I like. Well, my first flight was on a Boeing 737 many years ago and then I went on business trips on Boeing 747s and 777s. Besides, the Dreamliner looks way too cool for an aircraft.

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