Ongoing disruptions as Jetstar flights resume take off
Air passengers should expect some delays and cancellations as Jetstar services recover after the carrier grounded dozens of planes due to a global software issue.
The issue led to the cancellation of 90 Jetstar flights in Australia on Saturday, with anomalies detected on 34 of the company’s 85 A320/1 aircraft.
Aircraft engineers rushed to fix the problem that has left thousands of Australians stranded at airports across the country.
“We expect all affected aircraft to be ready to return to service overnight, allowing flights to continue as planned on Sunday,” a Jetstar spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.
“However, there may be some delays or cancellations of streaming on Sunday as our network fully recovers.”
Tyrone Simes, Jetstar’s head of flight operations, said engineering teams were deployed primarily to east coast airports to reverse the software upgrade on affected aircraft.
Mr Simes said the repairs took two to three hours for each aircraft and he expected the work to be finished on Saturday, with the potential for minor disruption on Sunday.
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus had instructed operators of a significant number of A320 aircraft in service worldwide to take immediate precautionary measures after discovering that “intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to the operation of flight controls.”
The problem arose when a US JetBlue flight made an emergency landing after a sudden and uncontrolled altitude drop on October 30.
More than 6000 aircraft were affected by the warning; This figure accounts for more than half of Airbus’ global A320 family fleet.
Australia’s aviation safety regulator was aware of the issue affecting the A320 family of aircraft globally.
“We are in contact with major airlines and are confident they will act quickly to minimize disruption and ensure aircraft return to service safely,” a spokesman said.
Melbourne Airport aviation chief Jim Parashos had spoken to many travelers, particularly school children, who were planning to go to Byron Bay or the Gold Coast.
“We appreciate their disappointment, but they have been very understanding,” he said.
Jetstar said it would contact customers if there were any further disruptions.
Qantas and Virgin Airlines were not affected by the software issue.
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