Deja vu all over again

The third in series of articles from the EADS media day and the Paris Air Show….

Your competitor has designed a new airplane that promises to be 20% more efficient than yours. You are involved in a costly new airplane program already that is billions of dollars over budget and years late. So hoping to avoid taking on another entirely new airplane program you decide to re-wing yours and hang some new-generation engines on it to be competitive.

That’s what Airbus did when Boeing announced its 787. The popular A330 received a new wing and new engines and called the A350. It was a dud.