The announcement by aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Friday, after an incident was discovered in the flight control software of the A320 models, that a software update was needed in more than half of the devices, has forced airlines to work tirelessly since Friday afternoon to try to mitigate the impact on scheduled flights.
Although the European company barely indicated in a statement that the problem could affect “a large number of A320 family aircraft,” various sources in the aviation sector estimate the number of affected aircraft at about 6,000 aircraft.
In the case of Iberia, the Spanish company does not expect “delays or cancellations” of its flights this Saturday after working “all morning” to implement the software updates requested by the manufacturer and thus prevent them from affecting its customers.
Iberia adds that it is “strictly” adhering to the program designed by the company to address the situation, so that the update is successfully implemented in the affected fleet. They also reiterate that “Iberia customers are not expected to suffer any impact from this case either today or tomorrow.”
In the case of Air France, the French airline was forced to cancel 35 flights on Friday, dozens of them at Paris airports. It also indicated that there would also be flight cancellations on Saturday, although it would notify passengers individually in advance.
Other airlines, such as the Australian Jetstar or the Japanese ANA, were forced to cancel dozens of flights for this reason due to the need to update the software. As an Airbus spokesperson told EFE, it is estimated that 85% of the affected aircraft will only require a simple computer change which will not take long (about three hours to update), which will not unduly impact their flight programmes.
For the remaining 15%, a major intervention would be necessary, which would require more time and in some cases also a change of equipment, although he was unable to quantify the impact this would have on their service. “We are working with our customers and suppliers to limit the consequences of this incident,” the spokesman said.
Colombian airline Avianca was one of the most affected companies. The company said on Friday that more than 70% of its global aircraft fleet must remain on the ground for an “urgent software update” for the A320.
Avianca, part of the Abra Group and a leader in Colombia, Ecuador and Central America, warned that the measure would “inevitably” cause “major disruptions” to its operations over the next 10 days.
Airbus indicated that the problem was revealed through the analysis of a recent accident affecting one of the aircraft in that fleet, which “revealed that intense solar radiation can corrupt data essential to the operation of flight control devices,” without providing further details.
Sources close to the investigation explained to EFE that the accident occurred on a flight of the American airline JetBlue between Cancun (Mexico) and Newark in New Jersey (United States), forcing it to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida (United States of America), after it lost control of the flight commands and suffered a sudden drop in altitude.
A number of passengers suffered minor injuries and had to be treated by medical staff, while the plane was temporarily removed from the fleet. Subsequent analyzes revealed this problem, which is now forcing Airbus Services to intervene.