Airlines race to fix fault on A320 jets after Airbus recall disrupts global travel

Airlines across the globe scrambled on Nov 29 to fix a software glitch on their Airbus A320 jets as a recall by the European planemaker temporarily grounded aircraft in Asia and Europe, and threatened travel in the United States during the busiest weekend of the year.

- 

Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury apologised to airlines and passengers after the surprise recall of 6,000 planes, or more than half of the global A320-family fleet, which recently overtook the Boeing 737 as the industry's most-delivered model.

"I want to sincerely apologise to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now," Mr Faury posted on LinkedIn.

Airlines worked through the night to make fixes after Airbus issued the emergency recall to 350 operators around the world, and global regulators directed carriers to remedy the software problem before resuming flights.

That appeared to help head off the worst-case scenario and capped the number of flight delays in Asia and Europe early on Nov 29.

The US was set to face high travel demand later in the day after the Thanksgiving holiday period.

"It is not as chaotic as some people might think," said Asia-based independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie, adding that airlines were always prepared for various potential disruptions. "But it does create some short-term headaches for operations."