Huge move by Airbus. The giant is urgently calling for 6,000 machines for service

The possibility of a flight control system failure due to solar radiation forced Airbus to carry out one of the largest recalls in the manufacturer's 55-year history. This shocked, among others, U.S. airlines and hampered global traffic during the holiday season.

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 operation of the flight control system.”

The manufacturer's directive, which affects more than half of all A320s in service, forces airlines to update their flight control software – a quick fix that takes about two hours but is necessary to get the planes back up and running. 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 faced delays of up to 72 hours. The Japanese airline ANA canceled 65 domestic flights, affecting approximately 9,500. passengers.

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 complete the recall “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, says its equipment meets Airbus specifications, corrupted data caused by solar flares led to a “sudden, uncontrollable drop in altitude” on Oct. 30 on a JetBlue plane flying from Mexico to the US. The plane made an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida.

Reuters also reported that more than 1,000 planes may also require equipment replacementraising concerns about longer groundings at a time when repair shops are already burdened by a backlog of Airbus engine maintenance and labor shortages.

Andrzej Dobrowolski from New York (PAP)

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