Merry:

If the EC can no longer subsidize their national carriers, what does this mean for Airbus? Is it now competitive enough to survive without EC national carriers operating deeply in the red buying their planes exclusively?

Without getting into the whole Boeing/Airbus debate, I remember hearing that Airbus survived not only on French/British (hey, get a load of that combination, Merry) direct subsidies, but also on the indirect subsidies of national carriers that couldn't afford it buyng airbus planes buying them thanks to airline subsidies...