Thousands of travelers around the world faced major delays after Airbus ordered an immediate software update for 6,000 A320-series aircraft—more than half of the world’s active narrow-body fleet. The unprecedented directive forced airlines to temporarily ground aircraft during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
The order, among the largest issued in Airbus’ 55-year history, quickly rippled across continents. What began as a technical alert soon spilled into U.S. holiday travel, spread across Asia’s dense short-haul networks, and reached as far as Australia. The disruption was linked to data corruption triggered by intense solar radiation, according to Airbus.
Impact on Major U.S. Airlines
American Airlines, the world’s largest operator of A320-family jets, initially identified more than 340 aircraft as affected. The airline later confirmed to CNBC that the recall applied to 209 planes.
“As of 6 p.m. CT, American has fewer than 150 aircraft remaining to update,” the airline said. “We expect the overwhelming majority of those to be completed today and through the night, with only a handful remaining for completion tomorrow.”
United Airlines reported that six aircraft required updates and said the issue would cause only “minor disruption to a few flights.” Delta Air Lines said fewer than 50 A320-family aircraft in its fleet were impacted.
Asia Hit Especially Hard
Asia experienced some of the most significant fallout, due in part to heavy reliance on A320s for domestic and regional routes.
Japan’s ANA Holdings canceled 95 domestic flights on Saturday, affecting roughly 13,200 passengers. ANA and its low-cost affiliate Peach Aviation operate the largest Airbus narrow-body fleet in Japan, while rival Japan Airlines mainly uses Boeing aircraft.
In India, Air India—partly owned by Singapore Airlines—said it had already completed software updates on more than 40% of its affected aircraft. The carrier reported no flight cancellations, though some flights were delayed or rescheduled. Scoot, another Singapore Airlines affiliate, said 21 of its 29 A320s needed the fix and aimed to complete all updates by Saturday.
Australia Faces Large-Scale Cancellations
Jetstar Airways canceled approximately 90 flights after determining that 34 of its aircraft required the software correction. As of 3:30 p.m. local time, 20 of those jets had been cleared to return to service, with the remaining expected to be ready overnight.
The airline anticipates full operations to resume Sunday, Nov. 30. Jetstar and parent carrier Qantas control around 65% of Australia’s domestic market. Competitor Virgin Australia, which operates only four A320s and holds about 35% of the market, said it was unaffected.
Why the Emergency Fix Was Issued
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued the first directive on Friday following an incident involving a JetBlue flight on Oct. 30, which experienced an “uncommanded and limited pitch down event.” Hours later, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration released its own emergency directive, requiring immediate action from operators.
Airbus revealed that solar flares may have corrupted data essential to flight control systems, raising the risk of “uncommanded elevator movement” in extreme cases.
The urgent global response reflects the scale of the A320 family’s presence in modern aviation—and the industry’s sensitivity to even rare technical anomalies.
