Air travel faces disruptions over A320 software switch
Airbus has sold 12,257 of the aircraft by the end of September, compared with the sale of 12,254 Boeing 737s
[PARIS] Several airlines announced delayed or cancelled flights on Friday (Nov 28) following an Airbus alert that up to 6,000 operational A320 aircraft may require upgrades.
Air France cancelled 35 flights on Friday, while Colombian airline Avianca said 70 per cent of its fleet had been impacted by a technical issue in the European plane-maker’s software.
Airbus instructed its clients to take “immediate precautionary action” after evaluating a technical malfunction on board a JetBlue flight in October.
“Intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” it said, adding that “a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in service” may be affected.
Replacing the software will take “a few hours” on most planes but for some 1,000 aircraft, the process “will take weeks”, a source close to the issue told AFP.
Air France said on Friday evening that it was calculating how many more flights would be cancelled on Saturday.
“Customers affected by cancellations are being notified individually by SMS and e-mail,” a spokesperson said.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) said that Airbus had informed it about the issue.
“These measures may cause short-term disruption to flight schedules and therefore inconvenience to passengers,” Easa said, adding that “safety is paramount”.
Emergency landing
Aerospace and defence giant Thales said it makes the flight control computer, which it said was “fully compliant with the technical specifications issued by Airbus” and certified by the Easa and its US equivalent, the FAA.
But it added: “The functionality in question is supported by software that is not under Thales’ responsibility.”
The Airbus statement did not specify which company had designed the software.
“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” it said, apologising for the inconvenience.
On Oct 30, a JetBlue-operated A320 aircraft encountered an in-flight control issue due to a computer malfunction.
The plane suddenly nosedived as it travelled between Cancun in Mexico and Newark in the United States, and pilots had to land in Tampa, Florida.
US media quoted local firefighters saying that some passengers were injured.
JetBlue has not yet responded to AFP’s request for comment.
Its competitor, American Airlines, said it had already begun updating software following on Friday’s alert, and expected “the vast majority” of approximately 340 affected aircraft to be serviced by Saturday. “Several delays” would occur as a result, it added.
An Avianca statement warned of “significant disruptions over the next 10 days”.
United Airlines said that it had not been “affected” by the incident, without providing further details.
Produced since 1988, the A320 is the world’s best-selling aeroplane. Airbus sold 12,257 of the aircraft by the end of September, compared with the sale of 12,254 Boeing 737s. AFP
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