It's no accident that 3 major airframe programs which featured advanced manufacturing techniques and systems have met with crippling delays on deliveries and have seemingly unending issues. The A380 has generally been an profit killing bomb for EADS due to all it's major issues dragging out for so long and some still ongoing. The 787 and A350 have suffered their share of issues as well. Personally, I have concluded that all the major aerospace companies set highly unrealistic timelines for getting advanced products out. When they rush to meet the schedules on my designs, the end results are a product filled with bugs, delivery delays, and serious cost overruns. While no product is absolutely 100% perfect, when you look at past programs, like the 737 series, 747, A320/A330/A340, and others, those programs went through a lot testing to prove the designs before they were marketed and all have been highly successful. Nowadays, the companies seem to sell a product before it's even airborne or has had time to have the wrinkles ironed out. I am very convinced that any of these problem programs can be made into excellent end products and expanded in capability if the programs have reasonably managed development & testing timelines.
