Aviation regulators have praised the “diligent and swift action” taken by operators to roll back a software update issued by Airbus that left the a large number of A320 family aircraft vulnerable to uncommanded pitch changes.
Airlines spent the weekend scrambling engineering teams after Airbus issued an unprecedented Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandated an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) for nearly half of the global A320-family fleet, including the widely-used A321.
The emergency action followed the discovery that a recent software update had introduced a critical vulnerability, meaning that intense solar or cosmic radiation could corrupt data within the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC), potentially leading to uncommanded pitch changes.
“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” the airframer said in a statement.
“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 family aircraft currently inservice which may be impacted. Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly. This AOT will be reflected in an Emergency Airworthiness Directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).”
While Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury issued a public apology for the logistical disruption, regulators praised the rapid and decisive response by the operators and Airbus, which focused on transparency and immediate safety correction.
Rob Bishton, Chief Executive at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “I want to thank the airlines for working at pace to take this precautionary maintenance action. Thanks to their diligent and swift efforts, UK aviation has come together to minimise significant passenger disruption.”
The scale of the recall, affecting an estimated 6,000 aircraft worldwide, triggered a swift global maintenance effort with approximately 5,100 aircraft requiring a software rollback to a previous, stable version.
Among European carriers, both Wizz Air and easyJet reported successfully completing the fixes overnight, which took an estimated two to three hours per aircraft, with minimal impact on schedules.
Diarmud O Conghaile, Chief Operations Officer at Wizz Air, said: “Safety remains the airline’s highest and overriding priority and we continue to uphold the most rigorous standards across every aspect of our operation. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to our dedicated Wizz colleagues who worked tirelessly through the night to carry out the updates swiftly and efficiently. Their commitment ensured that our passengers could travel as planned, despite the challenges faced.”
In the Middle East, Saudi low-fare operator flyadeal also claimed to have resolved the issue with prompt action.
A company spokesperson said: “Our operations, engineering and customer experience teams worked round the clock to minimise disruption. Passengers were contacted directly by email and SMS with rebooking and support options.”
In the Asia-Pacific region, low-fare airlines like Cebu Pacific and IndiGo reported having to take large numbers of aircraft out of service, with some cancellations extending into the new week.
Image: Rob Munro
Wizz Air completed the software roll back on its A321neo aircraft overnight.
