Costly Engineering Mistakes - The Airbus A380

A blogger's perspective, not necessarily the most factual one, on the causes of delivery delays of the Airbus A30 and the costs of these mistakes.

The Airbus A380 is the world's largest commercial aircraft to be ever built. It could accommodate a total of 853 passengers in the full economy seat configuration and has a 15200km flight range. To build an aircraft this size, technical and technology boundaries were undoubtedly redefined. The aircraft mammoth wings, a case in point, is the first to be built with a wing cross-section that is smoothly contoured, instead of wings that are partitioned in sections. This design feature increases aerodynamic flow and reduces drag, thereby boosting fuel efficiency.

The airbus A380 will also be remembered for its delivery delays amounting to no less than two years. Airbus attributed the delays to the 530km of wiring in each aircraft as the primary reason. Initial analysis by airbus engineers and independent consultants reported that the wiring problems can be resolved by having more resources on the deck and can be rectified in six months. However, a second more in-depth analysis conducted after the first six months of delay reveals a different picture - the use of different incompatible versions of computer 3D software and poorly managed change control and change management procedures were the actual causes . There were also other engineering defects unveiled during the battery of tests conducted, such as landing gear problems and weight issues which lead to another delay.

In total, the airbus A380 project saw a change of 3 Aribus CEOs, an EADS (parent company of Aribus) CEO, a A380 progam manager and spiraling costs which is now estimated at a cost of 12 bn euros, a cost overrun of 1.5 bn euros. Not to mention the loss of goodwill amongst clients due to the long delays. The airbus A380 is due to deliver the first plane to Singapore airlines in Oct 2007.