With Airbus expected  to break their deadline on the A380, and a troubled A350 program, who do you think is going to come out on top when compared to the 787 program.   I read that Boeing is also behind scedule, but their shares are selling better than airbus.

jake the 787 won't blow the A380 out the water, its not even in the same catagory so no market analyst will compair the two in sales.
But yes right now it will beat the A350, as of now Boeings sales for year 2006 are well above airbus' but no-where near those of this time last year so neither company has much to shout about.
The recent firings of the top guys at Airbus show that mistakes have been made on the A380 and the A350 and i'm sure once they get in a new, more competant team or more hopefully person, to run the business, sales will start to pick up.
By years end I think Boeing will have the lead still, but Airbus will have put this crap behind them and hopefully have learned, their knee jerk reaction to the 787 was a bad idea.

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A better automotive analogy would be Tour Bus versus Toyota Camry. 

But in business terms the two can be compared: how much profit will each lend to the bottom line for their parent companies.  Both companies have invested heavily in each, and it's apparent that both are betting a substantial part of their future on the success of each.  But, since both are in different markets both could succeed or fail independant of the other.

I think Boeing is making the smarter move.  It has nothing to do with the airplanes themselves, the technology, or the design.  It's all about the market.  The trend for airline passengers is direct, regional to regional flights, not hubbing.  The 787 is the perfect plane for this, an upgrade to the existing, extremely popular 737.  The A380 is built for hubbing, and passengers just don't want to fly to a hub, change planes, fly to another hub, change planes, then fly to their destination.

Hubbing used to be quite popular as airlines focused on cost per passenger seat mile metrics.  But airlines like Southwest showed that direct regional airlines not only could find customers, but could make air transportation much cheaper than hubbing strategies.  The 737 was their plane of choice, and the plane for the future for this strategy will be the 787.

Hubbing still has its place today, for long haul international type flights.  It just isn't economical today to fly from Manchester to Tokoyo direct.  So for these flights hubbing will remain popular (I assume through Heathrow?)  That's the A380's market.  Unfortunately I just don't see this market expanding at the same rate as the regional direct market.  Especially as the 787 expands the range at which direct regional becomes cost effective, that will free up lots of airframes that used to hub those routes, and those airframes may take up spots that could be filled by new A380s.

Time will tell...

I'm not  convinced SWA will acquire 787's.
the 787 was meant to replace the 767's and 757s.
Both aircrafts packs longer range than the 737.

Dont look at the 787 as a 737 upgrade, because it clearly isnt.

The 737 will get their rightful upgrade in about 8-10 years, when both Boeing and Airbus will battle head to head in the single aisle market.
I can see Boeing launch a new 737 with 787 technology, just like they did with the 737NG, where they used 777 software in the cockpit and other 777 technology.

The A380's are having production issues.  Airbus isn't taking new orders as a result.  Orders are being made for the new 747-8's wich offer compelling reasons for air carriers concerned for their bottom line to go with them.  The 747-8 has the 787 flight deck, also, Boeing went for making the plane more econmical to operate and maintain as a hallmark.  There's also the concern for retooling and retraining if air carriers went with the Airbus to replace their aging 747 fleet.  All that costs money.

In the long run, my money's going with the 747-8, not for emotional reasons, but for the bottom line, which is all that matters for busnesses purposing to have successful operations in the highly competative business as air transportation.

AIRBUS, purely because I live in Bristol and half my friends parents work for them, and if I dont say AIRBUS I'll be murdered.

I am also not a fan of American companies, especially Boeing.

On the planes, i think that the A380 will replace ageing 742 stocks of airlines, that have previously stuck with the Jumbo. As for the A350, it will be better than the A340!!! Quite a feat considering the A340 holds the record for the longest passenger flight, and enables people to travel long distances in luxury.

.Mic

well it wasn't cancelled when i checked the Airbus Intranet a couple of weeks ago, in fact they had started assembling a prototype fuselage.

.Mic

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I thought the 777-200LR holds the record for longest flight of a passenger aircraft....

But the A380 will NOT replace 742s, Boeings own 748 will replace those