Software glitch leaves Jetstar passengers grounded
Thousands of passengers, including school children, have faced lengthy travel disruptions after 90 Jetstar flights were canceled due to a problem in aircraft software.
Affected customers documented long queues on social media at airports in Melbourne and Sydney as authorities scrambled to resolve the issue.
The issue affected 90 Jetstar flights in Australia, with 34 of the company’s 85 A320/1 aircraft identified as having the abnormality.
Jetstar’s President of Flight Operations Tyrone Simes said engineering teams were deployed primarily to east coast airports to reverse the software upgrade on affected aircraft and perform flight control checks before the planes were shipped.
Mr. Simes said the airline was trying to fix the situation quickly, which took three to three hours for each plane and most repairs would be completed by Saturday.
“We hope to get everything sorted today and expect the potential for minor disruption tomorrow,” he told reporters at Melbourne Airport on Saturday.
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 was discovered after a US JetBlue flight made an emergency landing after a flight control problem caused the plane to make a sudden, uncommanded altitude drop on October 30.
Jetstar said it would contact affected customers’ contact details to advise them on options, including refunds, and urged them to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Melbourne Airport Aviation chief Jim Parashos said more than 6000 Airbus aircraft were affected worldwide and the airport was working with Jetstar to help passengers get on their way.
“As it was the weekend, I spoke to school children, Byron and a lot of travelers to the Gold Coast. We appreciate their frustration, but they have been very understanding,” he told reporters.
Sydney Airport said it was supporting Jetstar in resolving the issue, but all other airlines at the airport were operating normally and were not affected.
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