Massive recall at Airbus. Thousands of A320 planes need an urgent update / Wizz Air is affected
Airbus, Europe's biggest plane maker, said on Friday it was requesting an immediate software update for a “significant number” of aircraft in the A320 family, its best-selling range. The measure may cause disruptions for about half of the global fleet, that is, for thousands of planes, writes Reuters. Wizz Air, the airline that operates flights to and from Romania, said on Friday evening that some of its aircraft are among those that require updating and that it has already scheduled the necessary maintenance work.
According to an airline bulletin seen by Reuters, the change must be made before the next scheduled flight, which could lead to cancellations or delays during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, in the United States and globally.
Airbus said in a statement that a recent incident involving an A320 family aircraft showed that intense solar radiation can corrupt data critical to the operation of flight control systems.
“Airbus recognizes that these recommendations will cause operational disruption for passengers and customers,” the company said.
Industry sources said the incident that triggered this contingency measure involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on Oct. 30, in which several passengers were injured after a sudden loss of altitude.
Flight 1230 made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida following an aircraft control problem and a sudden, uncommanded descent, prompting an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
JetBlue and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not have an immediate comment.
Airbus stated that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is to issue an emergency directive to impose this fix.
“Two Hour Fix”
For about two-thirds of the affected planes, the recall will result in a relatively short ground stay as airlines revert to an earlier software version, industry sources said.
However, this comes at a time when airline maintenance shops are under heavy demand, already facing capacity shortages and the grounding of hundreds of Airbus planes due to long waiting times for other engine repairs or inspections.
Hundreds of the affected planes may also require hardware replacement, which would mean much longer wait times, the sources said.
Shortly after Airbus' announcement, approximately 3,000 A320 family aircraft were in flight worldwide.
American Airlines and Wizz Air have announced that they have already identified the aircraft that need the software update. United Airlines said it was not affected.
American Airlines said in a statement that about 340 of the 480 A320 aircraft in its fleet require software replacement, and most of those interventions are expected to be “completed today and tomorrow,” with each repair taking about two hours.
Around 11,300 A320 family aircraft are in operation worldwide, of which 6,440 are the base A320 model, which first flew in 1987.
The problem appears to be one of the largest service recalls in Airbus' 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered aircraft model.
The A320 was the first large-capacity commercial aircraft to introduce fly-by-wire computerized control systems.
The bulletin seen by Reuters attributes the problem to a flight system called ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer), which transmits commands from the pilot's side stick to the elevators at the rear of the aircraft. These control the pitch movement, i.e. the angle the nose of the aircraft rises or falls.
The manufacturer of this computer, the French company Thales, told Reuters that the product complies with Airbus specifications and that the functionality in question is supported by software that is not the responsibility of Thales.
Wizz Air's reaction
The airline Wizz Air, which operates flights to and from Romania, announced on Friday evening that some of its flights this weekend may be affected.
“Wizz Air confirms that some of its aircraft are among the more than 6,500 Airbus A320 family aircraft worldwide that require a software update, as recently identified by their manufacturer. Wizz Air has already immediately scheduled the necessary maintenance activities to ensure full compliance with the identified corrective measures. As a result, some flights this weekend may be affected,” the airline operator announced in a press release, stating that passengers who reservations made directly through the website or in the company's mobile application will be notified of any changes to the schedule, according to Digi24.ro.
British Airways, the British airline, is not heavily affected by this problem. EasyJet, the UK's low-cost carrier, said it “expects the situation to cause some disruption” and will inform passengers directly.
“Safety is our top priority and easyJet operates its fleet in strict accordance with manufacturers' recommendations,” the company said, according to the BBC.
