Hard to compare Boeing and Bombardier... Boeing may have ultimately fallen short of expectations on the 787 given its ambitious diversified supply chain approach, certification problems, battery issues and the overweight "Terrible Teens", but the preceding widebody aircraft programs gave customers confidence that Boeing would, in the end, deliver a great product. And the 787 is, from the perspective of the operating carriers, an excellent airplane.

Bombardier, OTOH, has little experience independently running a clean-sheet project, one that is a major leap forward in terms of technology, scale and cost compared to anything else the division has undertaken. It also falls in a somewhat awkward category that straddles regional and mainline (i.e., too heavy for US regional scope clauses and would be the smallest mainline aircraft in most major carrier fleets), which, of course, could be a major selling point if the aircraft hits performance specs. Aside from that, macroeconomic factors and upheaval in the industry haven't helped, either. So it's not too hard to see why airlines are taking a more cautious, wait-and-see approach with the CSeries.