Airbus on Friday urged airlines to immediately address a software problem that could affect flight controls on thousands of its airplanes.
In a statement, the European aircraft manufacturer said that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls” on its A320 family of jets, the most popular series of passenger airplanes in the world.
The issue will not affect every A320 plane, but about 6,000 are affected globally. In most cases, the issue can be addressed relatively quickly by reverting to a previous software version. About 1,000 older planes will need new hardware installed, and that will take more time.
It was not immediately clear how disruptive the emergency fix would be, but it comes during one of the busiest travel periods of the year in the United States: Sunday and Monday are expected to be among the busiest days for air travel of the Thanksgiving holiday period.
The planes are most popular in Asia, followed by Europe. In the United States, there are at least 1,600 A320 jets in regular use by U.S. airlines, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm. American Airlines is the world’s largest operator of the planes, with about 480 in service. Of those, about 340 were first identified as requiring the software update, though the final number may be lower. In many cases, the fix is expected to take about two hours per aircraft.
“Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations — especially with customers returning home from holiday travel,” the airline said in a statement. “Still, our overriding priority will always be the safety of our operation. It’s all hands on deck across our airline to address this Airbus software issue and take care of any customers whose flights are affected.”
In an emergency directive on Friday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency ordered operators to fix the problem on affected planes before their next flight. The order goes into effect at 6:59 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
“These measures may cause short-term disruption to flight schedules and therefore inconvenience to passengers,” the agency said in a statement. “However, as is always the case in aviation, safety is paramount.”
The problem was first discovered a month ago, according to the agency. On Oct. 30, JetBlue Airways Flight 1230 from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, dropped suddenly after experiencing a flight control problem. The plane made an emergency landing in Tampa, Fla., and about 15 to 20 people were taken to nearby hospitals.
Delta Air Lines is the fifth largest operator of A320 planes, with 305, followed by JetBlue, with 220, according to Cirium. In a statement, Delta said it would “fully comply with a directive and expects any resulting operational impact to be limited.” But fewer than 50 Delta A321neo aircraft are expected to be affected, with fixes expected to be in place by Saturday morning.
Niraj Chokshi is a Times reporter who writes about aviation, rail and other transportation industries.
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