Observability is crucial for those managing data pipelines, particularly with the increasing reliance on tools like Apache Airflow for business-critical operations. While third-party monitoring tools are often used to enhance observability, they can lead to complex configurations, lost context, and slower feedback loops, thus posing challenges for effective troubleshooting and management. Airflow, despite its strong alerting capabilities, lacks comprehensive observability features such as SLA management, lineage tracking, and cost oversight, especially when dealing with multiple instances. Astro, Astronomer’s managed Airflow platform, addresses these gaps by integrating observability directly into the orchestration layer, offering a unified view of pipeline health, data quality, and cost management without the need for additional system configurations. This integration not only reduces operational overhead but also streamlines the process from identifying issues to implementing solutions, making it a vital tool for teams managing critical data pipelines.