I believe him. Look at these European morons' cousins in the United States: GM still doesn't know how to make a reliable car after 100 hundred years in the business. I heard that in one GM model, the engine would fall off while the car is running on the road. Ford cars would catch fire. You would expect that these morons know how to fasten the engine under the hood after so many years.
Interesting. I'm a pilot and an engineer and won't fly Airbus On a Boeing aircraft you can stomp full rudder and not lose the whole vert-stab in wake turbulence. They also don't fall out of the sky due to pitot-static probe iceing.
Actually the often used quote is, "if it isn't Boeing, I ain't going" I dont know where you got that "statistic" but Boeing has been around waaaaaaay longer than Airbus and there have been more Boeing flights than Airbus. Without adjusting for that, you cannot make any kind of meaningful comparison. Look, the bottom line is this: There are social/cultural differences here at work as well. Would you entrust your life to a worker who has a vested interest in their product and whose ass is on the line if it should fail? or to a bloated quasi-state enterprise like Airbus whose employees know even if they lose their jobs, they receive substantial state benefits, who are in a hurry to knock off work at 4pm to go to the pub/cafe, who takes 2 months of holidays every year and values vacations much more than work itself. It's about incentives, responsibility and dedication to your work. In the end, all of these issues are connected and makes a great difference in your product. For all it's flaws, the American work ethic and penchant for problem solving, sometimes even to the point of paranoia is not in question. If there is a problem, we are not going to lounge around like an European, okay? Don't put yourself your safety and those of your loved ones at risk. Fly Boeing.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/02/boeing_v_airbus Also, from another news piece: "In March, the WTO ruled that Boeing received at least $5 billion in subsidies between 1989 and 2006 that were prohibited under international trade rules." Keep your trap shut if you don't know what you're talking about. While Airbus received subsidies in the form of below market loans, Boeing has received tax breaks in many US states amounting to billions of dollars. Bottom line, BOTH have received subsidies.