Airlines Work To Fix Software Glitch On A320 Aircraft
Airlines around the world reported brief outages heading into the weekend as they fixed software on a widely used commercial aircraft following an analysis that found computer code may have contributed to a sudden drop in flights. JetBlue plane altitude last month.
Airbus JetBlue said in a statement on Friday that an investigation into the incident revealed that intense solar radiation could have corrupted data critical to the operation of flight controls on A320 family planes.
The FAA joined the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in demanding that airlines address the issue with a new software update. More than 500 US-registered aircraft will be affected.
The EU security agency said this could cause “short-term disruptions” to flight schedules. According to the agency, the problem arose due to a software update to the plane’s onboard computers.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to customers after the necessary fix caused “significant logistical difficulties and delays”.
“Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are implemented as quickly as possible to get aircraft back into the skies and resume normal operations with the safety assurance you expect from Airbus,” he wrote in a message posted on LinkedIn on Saturday.
Thanksgiving outages in the USA
All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 aircraft in Japan, canceled 65 domestic flights on Saturday. It was stated that additional cancellations were possible on Sunday.
The software change comes as US travelers begin returning home from the Thanksgiving holiday. Busiest travel time in the country.
American Airlines has approximately 480 aircraft of the A320 family, 209 of which are affected. The airline said the fix will take about two hours for most aircraft, and updates for the vast majority should be completed by Friday.
The airline said in a statement on Saturday that only four aircraft needed to be upgraded and that it “expected no further operational impact.”
On X, Air India said its engineers are working on the fix and have completed the reset on more than 40% of aircraft that needed it. It was stated that there was no cancellation.
Delta said it expected the problem to affect fewer than 50 of its A321neo aircraft. United said six planes in its fleet were affected and minor disruptions were expected on a few flights. Hawaiian Airlines said it was unaffected.
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The Pope’s plane also needs a software fix
Pope Leo
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Saturday that the ITA was working on the issue. He said that the component required to update the aircraft is on its way to Istanbul, along with the technician who will install it. Leo was scheduled to fly from Istanbul, Türkiye, to Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday afternoon.
European flights return to normal
In France, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the situation had stabilized because many software updates had already been installed. He told BFM-TV that the impact in the country was limited and there was “almost a complete return to normality in French airports”.
Disruption in the UK was also minimal. For example, British Airways said that only three of its aircraft needed the update, while EasyJet stated that there may be changes in the flight schedule as a result of the update and passengers will be informed in this case.
Germany’s Lufthansa said most of the software updates were completed overnight and Saturday morning. It was stated that no Lufthansa Group Airlines flights are expected to be canceled due to the current situation, but minor delays may occur over the weekend.
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Scandinavia’s SAS said its flights continued normally on Saturday after teams worked through the night to install the necessary software.
The fix could be resolved between flights or during nightly aircraft checks, said Mike Stengel, partner at aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory.
“It’s certainly not ideal for this to happen on a ubiquitous plane on a busy holiday weekend,” Stengel said from Ann Arbor, Michigan. “The good thing, though, is that it should only take a few hours to update the software.”
Following the incident on October 30, at least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and hospitalized. Take a flight from Cancun, Mexico to Newark, New Jersey. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.
Registered in the Netherlands but headquartered in France, Airbus is one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, along with Boeing.
Stengel said the A320 is the main competitor to the Boeing 737. Airbus said it updated the engine in the mid-2010s and aircraft in this category are called A320neo.
According to Airbus’ website, the A320 is the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft family.
Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Samuel Petrequin and Pan Pylas in London and Nicole Winfield in Istanbul contributed to this report.
