Disappointing sales for Airbus's A380 superjumbo a decade ago made many in the industry think that the manufacturer was badly mistaken in opting for giant aircraft. Boeing’s focus on smaller planes, such as the 787 Dreamliner, seemed more sensible. Not any more. In January, Boeing wrote down $885m from its plane programmes and announced that it was cutting production targets for the 747 and 777. Yesterday, it revealed falling first-quarter profits, down to $1.22 billion against $1.34 billion in the same period last year. It blamed Airbus’s keen prices—but Boeing’s own poor cost-control is a bigger factor. A big write-off for the 787 looms. For its part, a weak euro (and a tighter grip on costs) has helped the European manufacturer to tally up more orders; whether it can deliver them is another question. Today Airbus announced lower profits year-on-year in the first quarter. citing production problems.