The Federal Aviation Administration is preparing to issue an order similar to the emergency airworthiness directive (AD) released on 28 November by EASA, requiring Airbus A320-family jets receive software updates prior to further flight.
US airlines operate some 1,630 A320-family jets, though it is unclear how many aircraft are affected by the order. The issue arises one day after the US Thanksgiving holiday – one of the USA’s busiest travel periods.
United Airlines says only six of its aircraft are affected, while 209 American Airlines jets are affected, though that carrier says only 150 of those have yet to receive required software updates.
EASA’s order affects A319s, A320s, A321s, A320neos and A321neos. It responds to a problem involving flight-data interference caused by high levels of solar radiation – an issue that occurred during a 30 October JetBlue Airways flight.
EASA is requiring that affected aircraft receive software modifications, though this can be accomplished relatively quickly on 85% of affected jets by reverting to a previous software version for the elevator aileron computer. Other aircraft could require hardware updates.
The FAA confirms it is reviewing EASA’s order, noting it typically responds to such measures by mirroring the European regulator’s actions.
US carriers operate 1,630 in-service aircraft of the affected types, though not all – it is unclear how many – require modifications.
American operates more A320-family jets than any US carrier, with 475 in service. Delta Air Lines operates 305, JetBlue Airways operates 220 and United Airlines operates 201, according to fleet data provider Cirium.
Other US carriers with sizeable A320-family fleets include Alaska Airlines (via its Hawaiian Airlines arm), Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines.
“It’s been all hands on deck across American to prepare for and begin the required Airbus software updates,” that airline says. “We expect the overwhelming majority of those to be completed today and through the night, with only a handful remaining for completion tomorrow.”
American expects all its affected jets will received required modifications by 18:00 central US time on 29 November.
With only six affected aircraft, United says, “We expect minor disruption to flights”.
Other US airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators,” the airframer states. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.”
EASA’s order could impact some 6,000 aircraft globally.
FlightGlobal understands the regulator’s emergency AD responds to an 30 October incident involving a JetBlue A320 that experienced an “uncontrolled descent” for 4-5s during a flight from Cancun to Newark, according to French investigation authority BEA.
BEA says the autopilot corrected the trajectory. It indicates the event was linked to the elevator aileron computer.
