Airbus has been pleased with its rapid progress in addressing the software bugs that have afflicted its A320 series of aircraft. This family accounts for more than 60 percent of the company’s global fleet. As of the latest update, fewer than 100 A320 aircraft still require necessary software updates before they can return to service. The corporation has announced that 95% of the required fixes have already been made.
In an admirable act of preemptive damage control, Airbus ordered urgent fixes installed on 6,000 A320 jets. These repairs largely amount to rolling back an outdated version of the software. Historically, this process has averaged two to three hours per aircraft. However, as many as 15% of A320 aircraft may need a hardware fix. That demand might push back the schedule for a few of the legacy models.
Each of the repairs was an urgent matter. They overlapped with one of the most disruptive travel periods in the United States—Thanksgiving weekend. Major airlines, including Delta, United, and American, found themselves exposed to potential disruptions due to the A320 issue during this peak travel time.
Lucky for us JetBlue found all the right levers to pull. Given those realities, the airline hopes to return 137 of the 150 A320 jets still affected to service by this coming Monday. It will ground about 20 flights just to be safe.
By the end of this weekend, EasyJet and Wizz Air will have completed smoothly updating the software on their A320 fleets. They did such an astounding job controlling the chaos that not one flight was ever cancelled.
“Airbus apologises for any challenges and delays caused to passengers and airlines by this event.” – Airbus
The unforeseen consequences from that software glitch have imposed an equal burdening reality. We will require substantial hardware modifications on legacy aircraft to correct these faults. According to industry experts, this technical fix will affect no more than 900 of these planes. It could take a few weeks to finish due to lack of materials.
“For some older aircraft, about 900 planes, the fix will require a hardware change before they can fly again, which could take several weeks due to limited supplies.” – Aarin Chiekrie
Airbus has promised stakeholders that it has found the source of and contained the problem in question. The company maintained that all fuselage panels produced since that date meet safety standards.
“The source of the issue has been identified, contained and all newly produced panels conform to all requirements.” – Airbus spokesperson
Heidi Alexander responding to the situation spelling it all out, explaining that despite some international difficulties, the effect on UK airlines seemed minimal. She stated that she remains hopeful the matter can be resolved quickly, while reiterating the importance of global aviation safety standards.
“The impact on UK airlines seems limited. It is heartening this issue has been identified and will be addressed so swiftly, demonstrating the high aviation safety standards globally.” – Heidi Alexander
Airbus took a conservative approach to the situation by choosing to inspect all potentially affected aircraft. This third approach accepts the reality that not all of them will need or deserve a second act.
“Airbus is taking a conservative approach and is inspecting all aircraft potentially impacted, knowing that only a portion of them will need further action to be taken.” – Airbus spokesperson