Airbus warns A320 fleet needs software fix after incident

The company said a significant number of its A320 fleet, encompassing about 6,000 jets in total, may be impacted by the required fix, according to a statement sent by the European planemaker on Friday. 

“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” the company said.

The advisory follows an incident on Oct. 30 involving a Jetblue aircraft that was flying from Cancun to Newark, New Jersey, that suffered a computer glitch that resulted in a sudden, unexpected downward pitch without pilot input. Nobody was injured, and the jet diverted to Tampa, Florida. A later investigation uncovered that one of the plane’s elevator-aileron computers — known as ELAC 2 — had malfunctioned.

The finding risks becoming a significant headache for Airbus, given the A320 family is the company’s by far most widely flown aircraft. According to people familiar with the situation, most of the jets can receive an uncomplicated update from the cockpit with minimal downtime. 

But about 1,000 older jets will need an actual hardware upgrade and will have to be grounded for the duration of the maintenance, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing non-public findings. 

The manufacturer, based in Toulouse in southern France, said it’s requesting a so-called Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) to implement the fixes, and that the AOT will be reflected in an emergency directive by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the region’s regulator.

Airbus declined to comment on the details and the duration of the maintenance measures. The EASA directive will likely contain more information on the exact fix and the extent of the upgrades. 

The A320 is the competing aircraft to Boeing Co. 737 model, and the two jetliner families are the workhorses of the civil aviation industry. Airbus has already had to contend with engine issues on its newer A320neo jets, involving those built by Pratt & Whitney, that have forced hundreds of jets to be taken out of service temporarily for maintenance. 

The A320 is flown using so-called fly-by-wire system, which rely on electronic inputs rather than hydraulic mechanisms. The ELAC system, which stands for Elevator Aileron Computers, helps manage critical flight parameters such as stabilizer trip and ensures the aircraft remains within its prescribed flight envelope by preventing excessive or accidental inputs.