Airbus ordered an urgent recall of approximately 6,000 aircraft. A320 family aircraft after it was revealed that “intense solar radiation may disrupt the transmission of data crucial to the functioning of the flight control system”.
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What caused the Airbus recall?
What are the consequences of the recall for airlines?
How many A320 aircraft were covered by the recall?
How long does it take to update software on airplanes?
Airbus ordered an urgent recall
The manufacturer's directive, affecting more than half of all A320s in service, forces airlines to update flight control software — a quick repair lasting about two hours but necessary to restart the planes. The US was most affected by the recall.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiated an investigation. The Associated Press reported that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also ordered A320 operators to fix the problem, which could cause disruptions to flight schedules.
Airlines around the world warned of avalanche disruptions: Avianca closed ticket sales until December 8, Air France canceled 35 flights, Volaris encountered delays of up to 72 hours. The Japanese airline ANA canceled 65 domestic flights, affecting approximately 9,500. passengers.
Airbus has problems with on-board computers
Given the wide scope of the campaign, analysts – as reported by Reuters – emphasized that some planes could be subject to software modernization between subsequent flights or at night.
According to Reuters, American Airlines needs to repair 340 planes. They intend to end the service campaign “with safety as a priority.” Delta reported less than 50 damaged A321neos, United reported six.
Four of the ten largest A320 operators in the world are US carriers. This creates disruptions during the peak Thanksgiving weekend travel period.
Airbus linked the problems to the ELAC flight control computer, which converts pilot signals into pitch commands. Although Thales, the device's manufacturer, claims its hardware meets Airbus specifications, corrupted data caused by solar flares led on October 30 to a “sudden, uncontrolled drop in altitude” a JetBlue plane flying from Mexico to the USA. The plane made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida.
Reuters also reported that more than 1,000 planes may also need to be replaced, raising concerns about longer groundings at a time when repair shops are already burdened by a backlog of Airbus engine maintenance and labor shortages.
