Dec 18, 2025
Airbus A380—One of the most expensive lessons in aviation history
Pari Singh
The Airbus A380 did not fail because engineers were bad at engineering. It failed because teams worked in different tools and lost a shared source of truth. Communication breakdowns scale into billion-dollar mistakes.
The Airbus A380 was delayed by 2+ years and lost ~$7 billion.
The biggest problem in engineering isn't engineering – its communication.
Why? Two teams on two different tools.
French engineers used CATIA (3D).
German engineers used an older 2D system (lol).
The teams didn't talk → the software didn’t talk → the wires didn’t reach → the entire program was pushed two years.
One of the most expensive lessons in aviation history boils down to this: When cross-functional teams don’t share a single source of truth for requirements and specs, disasters are measured in billions. Two CAD tools in one project is rare; but CAD + Excel + Python + MATLAB + Simulation is the standard.
When I started Flow – I was pulled in by complex tool integration problems. Over time, I learned that the most important thing we built as a single source of truth that different domain teams could actually use. Doing the basics really well matters.
Single source of truth – is shockingly still the problem.