Sunday Strategist: Airbus Grounded Its A380 After Only 11 Years - Bloomberg

Sunday Strategist: Airbus Grounded Its A380 After Only 11 Years - Bloomberg:

Airbus finally grounded its massive A380 a mere 11 years after its debut (in airplane years, that’s a blink).

The strategy on this superplane was suspect from the start. It was conceived in the late 1990s to conquer Boeing’s 747 and it did just that—in size, range and Instagram-worthy features. But when Airbus finally gave the 380 the green light, Boeing’s big bird was 31 years old and already starting its long, gradual descent.  

The lesson here is to heavily discount old rivalries when planning for the future; let the sunk costs of competition be sunk. If you are the Chicago Tribune at the dawn of the Internet, for example, consider Craigslist; don’t sweat the Sun-Times.