A global software issue affecting Airbus A320 aircraft caused flight disruptions around the world on Friday, leading to 25 cancellations in New Zealand and widespread havoc in countries such as the United States, where millions are travelling for the Thanksgiving weekend, Stuff has reported.
According to a report by Stuff, the issue, linked to a vulnerability identified after a JetBlue incident in October, has impacted around 6000 aircraft globally. Airbus said the update was necessary to address the risks posed by “intense solar radiation”, which at high altitudes can corrupt data used in aircraft flight control systems.
New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority reassured travellers that flight safety remained uncompromised. “This is a precautionary software update and does not present an immediate safety risk to flights,” Stuff has reported.
Investigators discovered the glitch while examining a JetBlue flight from Mexico to the US that suffered a sudden altitude drop, injuring at least 15 passengers. Following this, aviation regulators worldwide instructed airlines operating A320 fleets to urgently apply software patches.
Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said the carrier was notified of the issue overnight. “On our Airbus fleets, we needed to make a software change and that change needed to be done quite quickly,” Stuff has quoted.
The airline operates 37 Airbus A320 aircraft, of which 35 require the update. Each installation takes about three hours.
“There's quite a bit of time in total that is required to do this work... We’re moving as quickly as we can to process that through today. It does require a properly qualified and rated engineer, but the software change itself is not a major activity. It just needs to be done methodically and carefully,” as quoted by Stuff.
Air New Zealand cancelled 12 flights and warned of further disruptions.
“We’ll be looking to do the work as quickly as we can today, tonight, and tomorrow so that we minimise the number of flights that need to be changed,” as quoted by Stuff.
McGraw thanked passengers for their patience, adding: “We realise this has come at very short notice.”
Jetstar was also significantly affected, with nine aircraft requiring updates. The airline cancelled 13 domestic flights in New Zealand.
Across the Tasman, Australia faced far greater turmoil. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Jetstar cancelled 90 flights while updating 34 Airbus planes. Thousands of travellers, including students heading to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay for Schoolies week, were caught up in the chaos. The newspaper reported queues stretching 100 metres at Melbourne Airport’s Jetstar service desk, while Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal became “extremely crowded”, according to Stuff.
The situation escalated further in the United States, home to four of the world’s largest A320 operators: American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue and United Airlines.
American Airlines alone reported 209 affected aircraft from its fleet of 480 A320S, as reported by Stuff.
The issue collided with one of the busiest US travel periods of the year, with more than seven million people expected to fly over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
In a statement to USA Today, American Airlines said: “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. 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,” as quoted by Stuff.
Airlines worldwide continue to work through the backlog, with more disruptions expected as fleets undergo mandatory software updates in the coming days.