Well, thats the whole deal, isn't it?
Airbus says - bigger is better - more hub/spoke operations, less gates (but same or more space) required at airports than more flights. (can you say- no room at heathrow?)
Boeing says: people hate connections, don't like cattle cars. Prefer more direct flights to closer and possibly smaller airports. So build midsize, long range, cheap to operate plane and open up more and more point to point routes, bypassing hubs entirely.
Both are probably right to some degree, but the question is, which one is MORE right?
I think Boeing waited FAR too long to get the 7E7 going though, they shoulda started at least a year ago, customers or no.
And since when was 747 development paid for by government? And since when has airbus' subsidies ended? Who sold you THAT line of bulls|-|it?
re A320 vs 737 - the 320 is 6 inches or so wider than the 737, and so the seats are all each an inch wider, and it makes a BIG comfort difference in coach class. But the airbus' seem to transmit a LOT more noise of machinery and environment into the cabin than the 737.
But other than seat width - comfort is decided almost entirely by the airlines, and what seats THEY choose to put in. Boeing, for example, builds no seats - only installs seats that are bought by the airlines elsewhere.
BB
