MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Glitch in Airbus A320neo software causes numerous setbacks worldwide

Intense solar radiation can corrupt flight controls within the A320neo model

Airlines around the world are reporting widespread delays and cancellations following an urgent alert from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus concerning a critical technical issue in its popular A320neo model, to which intense solar radiation can potentially corrupt flight controls.

Airbus has issued an Alert Operator Transmission (AOT) requesting immediate preventive measures across a “significant” number of in-service A320neo planes, which, in other words, means reverting to earlier software.

The disruption is particularly notable in the United States, coinciding with the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend, predicted by the FAA to be the busiest in 15 years.

American Airlines -the world’s largest operator of A320 aircraft- reported that roughly 340 of its 480 planes require the repair, projecting “some operational delays,” but expects the software and hardware updates to be largely completed by Saturday, as each fix takes about two hours.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are also affected but anticipate “limited” operational impact.

In Europe, Wizz Air and EasyJet warned passengers of potential interruptions, with the latter stating it was working closely with authorities to implement required measures and minimize disruption. London's Gatwick Airport notified the public of impacts on approximately 80 scheduled flights on Friday.

In Asia, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) canceled over 60 flights, affecting an estimated 9,500 passengers, noting that each affected plane requires about four hours for review.

Air New Zealand confirmed the “global software problem” would affect its regular services, stating that all of its A320neo aircraft would receive a software update before their next passenger service.

Colombia's Avianca stated that the recall impacts over 70% of its fleet, prompting it to suspend ticket sales for travel dates through Dec. 8.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has directed that affected aircraft are permitted to fly without passengers only to reach maintenance facilities for repair. Once repaired, the planes can resume passenger service.

Airbus has apologized for the operational disruption caused by the recommendations, emphasizing that fleet safety remains the “number one and absolute priority.”