Airlines ride out Airbus A320 recall

Few hitches in global snap software retrofit

- TIM HEPHER ALLISON LAMPERT DAVID SHEPARDSON

An A320 fuselage is transported at the Airbus plant in Montoir-de-Bretagne, France, in 2020.

(REUTERS)

Airbus fleets were returning to normal operations yesterday after the European plane maker pushed through abrupt software changes faster than originally expected, as it wrestled with safety headlines long focused on rival Boeing.

Dozens of airlines from Asia to the United States said they had carried out a snap software retrofit ordered by Airbus, and mandated by global regulators, after a vulnerability to solar flares emerged in a recent midair incident on a JetBlue A320.

But some require a longer process and Colombia's Avianca continued to halt bookings for dates until Dec 8.

Sources familiar with the matter said the unprecedented decision to recall about half the A320-family fleet, or 6,000 jets, was taken shortly after the possible but unproven link to a drop in altitude on the JetBlue jet emerged late last week.

Following talks with regulators, Airbus issued its 8-page alert to hundreds of operators on Friday, effectively ordering a temporary grounding by ordering the repair before next flight.