Airbus: “Software Update Completed on Around 6,000 A320 Aircraft”
Airbus announced that operations have largely returned to normal following an urgent software update directive affecting approximately 6,000 aircraft in the A320 family. The European manufacturer stated that faster-than-expected progress in applying the software fix has helped prevent a prolonged crisis. The action came after a flight control issue occurred on a JetBlue A320 operating the Cancun–Newark service on October 30. The aircraft lost about 100 feet of altitude in seven seconds and diverted to Tampa. Twenty passengers were reported injured. Investigations pointed to possible sun-related data corruption as the cause.
The manufacturer said that the update has been completed on the vast majority of the roughly 6,000 affected aircraft, while fewer than 100 still require action. However, for some older A320 family jets, a simple software rollback will not be sufficient and the flight computer will need to be fully replaced. Colombia-based Avianca has therefore halted ticket sales on certain dates until December 8. JetBlue, meanwhile, stated that it will cancel around 20 flights on Monday.
On older A320 family aircraft, both software and hardware replacements will be required. Industry sources note that due to ongoing global chip supply challenges, it remains unclear how long these aircraft will stay grounded.
