Airlines race to repair A320 jets after Airbus issues recall

ISLAMABAD: Airlines around the world rushed on Saturday to fix a software glitch grounding thousands of Airbus A320-family aircraft, after a partial recall halted flights across Asia and Europe and threatened US travel during one of the busiest weekends of the year.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized for the disruption, saying, “I want to sincerely apologize to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now.” The recall covers more than 6,000 aircraft, over half of the global A320 fleet.

The alert followed an October 30 JetBlue flight incident in which an unexpected loss of altitude injured 10 passengers, according to France’s BEA, which is investigating. Regulators ordered airlines to complete the software fix before resuming flights.

Many Asian and European carriers avoided severe delays because the notice arrived late in their operating day. Flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway told Reuters that the timing “avoided more serious disruption,” noting the airline had repaired all 13 affected jets.

Clarifying its status, Pakistan's national flag carrier stated that it did not load the faulty software patch and that its flights remained safe, with no disruption reported.

“It is clarified that PIA [Pakistan International Airlines] did not load the faulty software patch; hence, our aircraft are perfectly safe and there will be no flight disruption,” the statement said on its official X account.

The fix, described as simple but essential, takes two to three hours per aircraft. Wizz Air said it completed all updates overnight, while AirAsia aimed to finish within 48 hours. India’s aviation regulator said IndiGo had reset 184 of 200 affected planes and Air India had done 69 of 113.

Japan’s ANA Holdings canceled 95 flights, impacting about 13,500 travelers, and South Korean officials said upgrades to 42 aircraft were expected by Sunday morning.

American Airlines reported that 209 of its 480 A320-family jets needed the update, most expected to be cleared by Saturday.

Despite the Thanksgiving travel surge in the United States, analysts said European carriers may avoid major financial fallout because the recall landed during a seasonal lull before end-of-year holidays.