European aircraft maker Airbus announced on November 28 that a total of more than 6,500 aircraft could be affected by the mandatory fix.
The emergency software fix, issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Authority late on November 28, came after a recent incident involving a Jet Blue Airways plane that showed "powerful solar reflectance" could damage data to help maintain flight control.
The Jet Blue Airways incident occurred on October 30 involving a plane from Cancun to Newark, New Jersey, USA, that had a computer failure, leading to a sudden drop in altitude while the pilot did not intervene. No one was injured in the incident and the plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.
The investigation shows that one of the plane's balance control - navigation computers, called the ELAC 2, had a malfunction.
A preliminary technical assessment conducted by Airbus determined that the problem with the ELAC was a possible contributor to the incident, said the European Aviation Safety Authority. This situation, if not resolved, in the worst case, can lead to unwanted balance movements, causing the aircraft to exceed the weight-bearing capacity of the structure."
The discovery is a problem for Airbus, as the A320 is the company's most widely used aircraft, with more than 11,000 in operation. The sudden request for upgrades is also a strong news for airlines, especially those that rely on Airbus as the only fleet supplier.
According to many sources with experience, most aircraft can receive a simple update from the cockpit with minimal downtime. However, about 1,000 older aircraft will need to upgrade equipment and will have to stop operating during maintenance.
The directive from the European aviation safety authority requires software upgrades to be carried out before the next regular flights of affected aircraft.
Airlines have quickly deployed updates to affected A320 aircraft, suspended flights and reversed plans for thousands of passengers.
In a rare global recall for Airbus' best-selling aircraft, Colombia's avianca said more than 70% of its fleets were affected and the airline would suspend ticket sales until December 8. ANA Holdings of Japan canceled 95 flights on November 29, affecting about 13,200 passengers.
In the US, where the Thanksgiving travel season is taking place, operators of about 1,600 A320s have sought to make corrections while minimizing disruption.
FlightAware, a tool that tracks flight delays and cancellations, shows that 452 flights, equivalent to 20%, were delayed on November 29 at China Southern Airlines.
The A320 competes with the Boeing 737 model and these two aircraft are the main pilots of the civil aviation industry.
Airbus introduced the aircraft in the late 1980s, and its resounding success has taken Airbus to the global No. 1 position, surpassing Boeing. The current A320 aircraft line includes the smaller A319 model, the classic A320 model and the larger and increasingly popular A321 model.
The fix announced on November 28 applies to the A320neo and the older, classic A320 line, Airbus said.
Aircraft software plays an increasingly important role in the stability of flights on modern aircraft. Boeing has had two consecutive crashes a few years ago involving its latest 737 Max aircraft after the MCAS software system malfunctioned during flight.
