Why Are Boeing Aircraft Noses More Pointed Than Airbus Aircraft?

Supersonic aircraft are readily recognizable by the long, pointy noses, while transonic planes, like today’s commercial jets, are much more rounded. At transonic speeds, the rounded nose is more aerodynamically efficient. Look a little closer, and Boeing noses are more pointy compared with their Airbus counterparts. Remarkably, nose designs do not vary much between narrowbody and widebody aircraft, except for the double-deckerAirbus A380 andBoeing 747, as well as the clean-sheet 787 Dreamliner.