The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, which had to urgently change the navigation control software for its A320 models, admitted on Saturday (11/29/2025), through its CEO Guillaume Faury, that there were “major logistical difficulties and delays” in air traffic. However, the company quickly intervened with thousands of planes on Friday and Saturday, although a hundred of them will have to remain grounded for longer.
“Implementing the corrective solution on some A320 aircraft has involved significant logistical difficulties and delays since yesterday,” Faury said in a message posted on social media. “I want to offer my sincere apologies to our customers and passengers affected. Safety is our absolute priority.”
Although Airbus initially indicated that a thousand planes would require deeper maintenance, which could keep them on the ground for a few weeks, French Transport Minister Philippe Tabaro indicated that this intervention would ultimately affect only a hundred. “It looks like there will be a lot fewer A320s that will be permanently affected by the software change,” he said.
The minister added from Nice Airport, “The possibility of affecting a thousand aircraft was mentioned. Now it seems that the number does not exceed one hundred.”
The bug was discovered on October 30
The defect in the control system, which malfunctioned due to exposure to high solar radiation, prompted Airbus to review its equipment and raised fears of serious disruptions in global air traffic, given that the A320 is the best-selling aircraft on the planet. The model entered service in 1988, and by the end of September, 12,257 units had been delivered, of which approximately 10,000 remain in service.
The malfunction was discovered during an American JetBlue flight between Cancun and Newark, New Jersey, which on October 30 was forced to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida. The plane suddenly fell without the intervention of the pilots, injuring a number of people, none of them seriously.
Despite the fear of further chaos, airlines around the world indicated in various statements that the software change processes took place relatively quickly, and that the majority of aircraft were now ready for operation. The measure adopted by Airbus affected a significantly smaller number of flights with delays and cancellations than initially estimated.
DZC (EFE, AFP)