Airbus software glitch: IndiGo, AI to ground 350 A320 jets for the weekend

Air travel in India and abroad is set to face disruptions this weekend as thousands of Airbus A320 family aircraft are grounded for a mandatory software update. Airlines worldwide are expected to complete the upgrade by early next week.

In India, more than 350 A320-series planes operated by IndiGo and the Air India Group will be temporarily taken out of service for the exercise, which could last two to three days. Operations are expected to normalise by December 1 or 2.

Triggered by US incident

The move follows a safety investigation into a JetBlue A320 flight that suffered a sudden pitch-down incident on October 30 while flying from Cancun to Newark. The National Transportation Safety Board has linked the unexpected descent to a switching event in the aircraft’s flight control system, prompting regulators and manufacturers to mandate corrective action.

Some passengers on that flight required medical attention after the aircraft diverted to Tampa.

Older aircraft to take more time

Around 6,000 aircraft globally will require the upgrade. Newer A320 aircraft are expected to be updated within 30 minutes using software loading tools, while older jets may need additional hardware modifications, potentially increasing downtime.

Regulators issue global directive

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has now issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring operators worldwide to complete the A320 software and hardware upgrade at the earliest. It has cautioned that the directive may disrupt flight schedules and inconvenience travellers, but stressed that safety remains the overriding priority.

IndiGo, which has over 350 A320 family aircraft in its fleet, is expected to complete required work on around 250 of them by early next week, according to a TOI report. Air India, with a fleet of about 120–125 A320 variants, anticipates a similar timeline for more than 100 aircraft affected.

Air India said on Saturday that the measures will result in longer turnaround times and delays until the update is complete across its fleet, and apologised for the inconvenience to passengers.

Solar radiation risk identified

Airbus has acknowledged the corrective action, stating that analysis of a recent A320 incident indicated that intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to flight control systems. The aircraft maker has worked with global regulators to initiate precautionary steps through an alert operator's transmission, which has now been formalised under the emergency directive.

EASA’s notification notes that an A320 recently experienced a brief, uncommanded pitch-down while the autopilot remained engaged. Airbus has identified a malfunction in one of the flight control computers as a potential contributing factor, warning that if left unaddressed, such conditions could lead to unsafe aircraft movements.

Airbus said it regrets any operational disruption caused and is coordinating closely with airlines to expedite the updates while prioritising flight safety.