Airlines around the world canceled and delayed flights heading into the weekend to fix software on a widely used commercial aircraft after an analysis found the computer code may have contributed to a sudden drop in the altitude of a JetBlue plane last month. Airbus said on Friday that an examination of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft, per the AP. The FAA joined the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in requiring airlines to address the issue with a new software update. More than 500 US-registered aircraft will be impacted.
The EU safety agency said the update may cause "short-term disruption" to flight schedules. The problem was introduced by a software update to the plane's onboard computers, according to the agency. The software change comes as US passengers were beginning to head home from the Thanksgiving holiday, which is the busiest travel time in the country. In Japan, All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 planes, canceled 65 domestic flights for Saturday. Additional cancellations on Sunday were possible, it said. American Airlines has about 480 planes from the A320 family, of which 209 are affected. The fix should take about two hours for many aircraft, and updates should be completed for the overwhelming majority on Friday, the airline said. A handful will be finished on Saturday.
American expects some delays but said it was focused on limiting cancellations. It added that safety would be its overriding priority. Air India said via X that its engineers were working on the fix and had completed the reset on more than 40% of aircraft that need it, with no cancellations. Delta, meanwhile, said it expected the issue to affect less than 50 of its A321neo aircraft. United said six planes in its fleet are affected; it expects minor disruptions to a few flights. Hawaiian Airlines said it was unaffected. Mike Stengel of AeroDynamic Advisory said the fix could be addressed between flights or on overnight plane checks.
"Definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend," Stengel said. Airbus, registered in the Netherlands but with its main HQ in France, is one of the world's biggest airplane manufacturers, alongside Boeing. The A320 is the primary competitor to Boeing's 737, Stengel said. Airbus updated its engine in the mid-2010s, and planes in this category are called A320neo, he said. The A320 is the world's bestselling single-aisle aircraft family, according to Airbus' website.
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