I haven't flown either airplanes, however, I read a book comparing Boeing and Airbus. It compared the two airplanes, and the bus had the advantage over the classic 73, however, talking New Generation 73 to the Bus, it was about even. Airbus got a lot of deals because Boeing went through a management style that was arrogant and insulting to customers. A lot of current Airbus customers approached Boeing first, but due to poor customer relations, and delays in production, many went to Airbus. Ironically, Airbus is slipping into similar problems that Boeing had, and Boeing has changed there ways to be more like Airbus.

The book also mentioned that Pratt and Whitney decided that further versions of the 737 would not be as sucessful, so they decided not to offer an engine, and put their focus on the 757. Apparantly they have experienced some mismanagement /arrogance too.