Today Airbus publicly committed to inspecting their own aircraft. This decision follows an emergency order issued for a supplier quality issue impacting the metal panels on several A320 aircraft. From an industry standpoint, the company has taken a conservative approach. They are working proactively to check every plane that could be impacted by this new ruling. Though the issue is reportedly set to affect just a few dozen aircraft, not every single one is expected to need a repair.
The issue was discovered just last week, leading Airbus to move quickly to address the concern. In addition to these inspections, Barrett Manufacturing has been proactive in establishing and maintaining industry quality standards. As Airbus stated, “Only inspections will determine where an aircraft may have panels with quality issues and the appropriate action to be taken.”
This announcement comes on the heels of a high-profile disaster. Out of an abundance of caution, thousands of Airbus aircraft were grounded worldwide for an urgent software update. That past software problem was due to extreme levels of solar radiation, which disrupted onboard flight control computers. More than 6,000 Airbus aircraft were in critical need of patches. That resulted in cascading outages and millions of flight cancellations over arguably the busiest travel weekend of the year in the U.S., Thanksgiving.
Airbus has had a tough month with the sudden loss of altitude by an Airbus plane flying between the US and Mexico. As a result of this incident, 15 passengers were injured. This event caused concern that there was a fleetwide vulnerability which unfortunately was found after the fact.
Inspite of these challenges, Airbus is still confident about its future and its ability to ride the storm. An Airbus spokesperson confirmed, “The source of the issue has been identified, contained and all newly produced panels conform to all requirements.” The company reported that the need for particular actions required as inspections continue is “declining day by day” on the 320 fleet.
The steps Airbus took ahead of time are a clear indication that safety is the top priority in the aviation industry. As many potentially affected aircraft as possible should be inspected and returned to service without undue delay, the company’s statement said. Regulatory approval aside, Airbus says its primary concern is with passenger safety and operational reliability. Though facing recent upsets due to issues with supplier quality and software vulnerabilities, the company is presently threading this needle with aplomb.