This has got to be seriously painful for Boeing – as well as being a real wakeup to the big 2 airframers:
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A what, $30 billion dollar investment translates into a ~50 order lead vs the A330 ceo and neo (with the neo having a… somewhere around ~$4 billion dollar investment).
Ouch. Which more or less goes to show – engines are virtually the be-all and end-all* on airframes these days.
Any and all new airframes off the design board really need to allow for at least one, if not two, straightforward** engine upgrades throughout its service life.
*assuming a half-decent design
**no landing gear changes needed, straightforward strengthening of wing structure and no engine ground clearance issues.