NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThousands of Airbus planes are returning to normal service, officials say, after being grounded for hours due to a warning that solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers.
The France-based aerospace giant said around 6,000 of its A320 planes had been affected and most required a quick software update. About 900 older planes need a replacement computer.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the upgrades “went smoothly” for more than 5,000 planes.
“Less than 100 aircraft” still need the update, Airbus had told him, according to local media.
“Software updates have already been rolled out overnight to virtually all devices,” Tabarot explained.
On Saturday morning, Air France appeared to be experiencing some disruptions, with several flights in and out of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport delayed or cancelled.
But while flights suffered limited disruptions, he said it was more “complicated in other countries,” such as the United States, where the problem arose on Thanksgiving weekend itself, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
American Airlines said 340 of its planes were affected and it expected “some operational delays,” but added that the vast majority of the upgrades would be completed by Friday or Saturday. Delta Airlines said it believed the impact on its operations would be “limited.”
In the UK, disruption at airports has been limited. London’s Gatwick Airport reported “some disruption” while Heathrow said it had not experienced any cancellations. Manchester Airport said it did not anticipate any significant problems.
It is understood that British Airways and Air India will not be greatly affected by the issue.
On Saturday, Easyjet said it had completed the upgrade of a “significant number” of its planes and planned to operate as normal.
Wizz Air is also operating normally and has implemented updates overnight.
In Australia, low-cost airline Jetstar canceled 90 flights after confirming that around a third of its fleet was affected, with disruptions expected to continue throughout the weekend despite most planes having already undergone the upgrade.
Airbus discovered the problem after a JetBlue Airways plane flying between the United States and Mexico suddenly lost altitude and made an emergency landing in October. At least 15 people were injured.
The company identified a problem with the plane’s computer software that calculates a plane’s elevation and discovered that at high altitudes, the data could be corrupted by the intense radiation periodically released by the Sun.
In addition to the A320, the company’s best-selling aircraft, the A318, A319 and A321 models were also affected.
While approximately 5,100 aircraft could have their problems resolved with a simple software update, around 900 older aircraft would require a replacement computer.
These planes would have to be grounded until they are resolved.
How long it takes will depend on the availability of replacement computers.
