Airbus grappling with fresh quality issue on A321 jet model

AIRBUS is facing a new quality issue affecting a “number” of its best-selling A321neo jet, although the manufacturer said the problem was not a safety concern.

The manufacturer uncovered a “deviation” in surface protection on “stringers located at the lower front section of the fuselage,” a spokesman for the European planemaker said in a statement. 

The Air Current first reported that Airbus was facing a quality issue with insufficient corrosion protection on fuselage sections on hundreds of in-service and in-production jets. 

Airbus has identified the source of the issue, and it has been contained and a remedy is available, the spokesman said. Aircraft can continue to operate, and the rework “doesn’t require any disassembly of the stringers.”

Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that Airbus had identified quality lapses in the tail section of its larger A330neo aircraft, bringing deliveries of the model to a near halt between June and August. 

Quality snags aren’t unusual in the notoriously exacting aviation industry. The company discovered faulty fuselage panels on its A320 family jets, prompting Airbus to lower its delivery target in the final weeks of December to about 790 units. BLOOMBERG