I’ve long been fascinated with passenger jets and the whole flying experience, so it was with keen interest that I’ve read as much as possible about the decades-long knock-’em-drag-out fight between Airbus and Boeing over who will truly dominate the skies. I have to admit to being partial to Boeing. Sort of like rooting for the home team, even if, at times, they are sleazy and don’t deserve to win. When I first read about the upcoming so-called “super jumbo” jet, the A350, being built by Airbus, I honestly thought that the war was over and that Airbus had won. It is an amazing machine and I can’t wait to see it and perhaps fly in it some day.

However I have been really intrigued by Boeing’s latest offering, the 787 Dreamliner, and note that it is already unbelievably successful in terms of sales, even though it won’t go into service until 2008 at the earliest. (I think the A350 goes into service in 2007.) They aren’t really competitors in terms of the markets they serve but they represent the two biggest weapons in each camp, and they offer completely different views of how the industry will change in the next 10-20 years. Today’s article in the New York Times (Boeing Bets the House on Its 787 Dreamliner - New York Times) is an excellent article that discusses Boeing’s big gamble on the 787. This and other recent news about the 787 and the very positive reaction it is receiving from airlines has convinced me that the “war” is certainly not over. Like the A350, I can’t wait to see my first 787 fly overhead a couple of years from now, much less have a chance to fly in one. My current favorite jet in which to fly is the 777, which is a great plane, I think.

As an aside, one of the things I like most about where I currently work is that Endeavor’s headquarters are literally next door to O’Hare Airport here in Chicago. Passenger jets of all types and from all over the world fly over the building at close range, offering me the chance to take a look at them and try to identify what kind of jets they are and from which airlines. I know, it sounds a bit childish, but who cares. I think it’s a fun and innocent, if quirky, pasttime.