Airbus Grounds Thousands of Planes Amid Software Glitch, Fuselage Panel Issue Emerge
Airbus has issued a massive recall affecting nearly 6,000 of its A320 family jets due to a software glitch that grounded thousands of planes worldwide. The issue was discovered just weeks after the aircraft overtook Boeing's 737 as the most-delivered jet.
The problem centered on intense solar radiation potentially corrupting data critical to flight controls, prompting airlines to cancel and delay flights during the Thanksgiving weekend in the US. Major carriers such as Delta, United, and American were particularly affected.
Airbus has since completed fixes for the vast majority of the aircraft, with fewer than 100 remaining that still need software updates before they can return to service. However, a hardware upgrade may be necessary for up to 15% of the planes, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank.
The company's shares took a hit after Reuters reported on Monday that Airbus had identified another quality issue affecting fuselage panels in an "limited number" of A320 aircraft. Despite this new development, Airbus maintains that it is taking a conservative approach and inspecting all potentially impacted aircraft.
For most of the affected planes, the fix requires only the installation of an older version of software, which can be completed in about two to three hours per aircraft. The UK transport secretary has expressed relief at the swift resolution of the issue, noting that global aviation safety standards have been upheld.
However, some airlines may face more complex fixes for their older planes, with up to 900 aircraft requiring a hardware change before they can fly again. This could take several weeks due to limited supplies.
Airbus has issued a massive recall affecting nearly 6,000 of its A320 family jets due to a software glitch that grounded thousands of planes worldwide. The issue was discovered just weeks after the aircraft overtook Boeing's 737 as the most-delivered jet.
The problem centered on intense solar radiation potentially corrupting data critical to flight controls, prompting airlines to cancel and delay flights during the Thanksgiving weekend in the US. Major carriers such as Delta, United, and American were particularly affected.
Airbus has since completed fixes for the vast majority of the aircraft, with fewer than 100 remaining that still need software updates before they can return to service. However, a hardware upgrade may be necessary for up to 15% of the planes, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank.
The company's shares took a hit after Reuters reported on Monday that Airbus had identified another quality issue affecting fuselage panels in an "limited number" of A320 aircraft. Despite this new development, Airbus maintains that it is taking a conservative approach and inspecting all potentially impacted aircraft.
For most of the affected planes, the fix requires only the installation of an older version of software, which can be completed in about two to three hours per aircraft. The UK transport secretary has expressed relief at the swift resolution of the issue, noting that global aviation safety standards have been upheld.
However, some airlines may face more complex fixes for their older planes, with up to 900 aircraft requiring a hardware change before they can fly again. This could take several weeks due to limited supplies.
They're groundin thousands of planes and it's like, totally not good news 
I mean, I was lookin at flights for the weekend and they were all cancelled or delayed... crazy! 
And now there's this other thing w/ fuselage panels? Like, what's goin on?! 
Airbus is doin their best to fix these issues, but it's still a bummer. I just hope these airlines can get back in the air soon and that no one gets hurt 
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Airbus needs to step up its game on quality control, this isn't the first time they've had issues like this and it's getting old... 
. I mean, 6k planes grounded is a big deal, especially with all the travel and trade that happens worldwide 
. They should've caught these problems before the planes even left the factory 
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. And what's up with the "limited number" of A320s having fuselage panel issues? It sounds like there's more to this story than Airbus is letting on 
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. Anyway, glad to hear that most airlines can fix it in a few hours... now if only they could fix their formatting issues 
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. Can't believe they had this issue just weeks after beating Boeing... didn't think it'd be a short-lived victory 
. Hope they got things sorted out ASAP 
, don't wanna see more planes stuck on the ground 
so not surprising that Airbus is having some issues after finally catching up with Boeing... I mean, it's not like they've been playing catch-up for years or anything 
. On the bright side, at least the planes are being grounded, which means less fuel consumption and fewer emissions, right? 
And hey, the airlines getting hit by this are just lucky to have such a great relationship with Airbus... I mean, who needs a good relationship when you can just take their planes off the air for weeks, am I right? 
. That's like, half of all their fleet gone! 
. And did u know that 85% of all A320s are operated by these top 3 carriers?! 
it's like, a big downward slope after the Thanksgiving weekend 
. clearly shows how much those software glitches affected flight schedules 
. Anyone else have issues with their travel plans? It's crazy how one software glitch can cause such a ripple effect 
and yeah, 15% of planes needing hardware upgrades is still not that bad considering how many ppl fly every day 
i swear, i'm more excited to see Airbus come out with new plane designs than any other brand 
my fave airline delta's got all their planes fixed already btw