The Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes to the .sky with a slight delay of about two years as Boeing tried to figure out how to mass-produce a plane using revolutionary new technologies.

Such is life on the leading edge of any technology.

Nevertheless, the real story is how Airbus, after years of gaining on Boeing, blew it all in a colossal, politically-motivated blunder and built another Concorde--i.e. a high-tech albatross. Another example where high-minded social justice got its ass kicked by base capitalism. The A380, billed and celebrated as the largest plane in the world, has racked up 202 orders and delivered 21 planes. They sold four this year--one less than the Boeing 747-8.

By contrast, the 787 has 600 units on order.

With 20% less fuel consumption, the 787 represents an enabling technology of tremendous importance. The ability to fly a smaller number of passengers a much longer distance, portends a restructuring of the entire air traffic control system. Instead of consolidating air traffic to a hub for the long flight overseas, a Dreamliner can simply fly Salt Lake City to London, England direct, non-stop.

Lovely stuff.