Description: A few times a month, Airbus Flight Test Engineer Patrick du Ché stands up from his desk, takes off his jacket and tie, walks to the coat rack in the corner of his office, and slips into a set of fire-resistant underwear, a bright-orange flight suit, and sturdy black boots. Then he walks down two flights of stairs and out onto the tarmac of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southern France. There, rising above a fleet of newly painted A320 short-haul jets, is an Airbus A350-XWB long-range widebody airliner—the very first of its kind.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Feb 13, 2014

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/how-airbus-is-debugging-the-a350#r=hp-ls

Questions for Discussions:

• What are some lessons learned of particular importance to managers in engineering work environments?
• How would you summarize the key message to managers producing high-cost products like Airbus?