Why Has Airbus Grounded Half Of Its Global A320 Fleet? JetBlue Solar Radiation Glitch Explained

New Delhi: In a massive, precautionary move, Airbus this week ordered an urgent fleet-wide advisory and software update for 6,000 A320-family aircraft - more than half of the in-service global A320 fleet. The decision follows a serious mid-air incident on 30th October 2025 and has triggered global disruptions in airline operations.

What triggered the advisory

On 30th October, a JetBlue Airways A320 operating between Cancún and Newark suffered a sudden, uncommanded drop in altitude while cruising - forcing an emergency landing in Tampa. Several passengers were injured.

A subsequent investigation by Airbus traced the root cause to a software vulnerability in the flight-control system - specifically in the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC), which translates pilot inputs into elevator/ailerons movement that control the aircraft’s pitch.

Airbus concluded that intense solar radiation - for instance from recent heightened solar activity - may corrupt data processed by the ELAC system. That corruption can lead to “uncommanded” control inputs (e.g. unintended pitch-down), potentially destabilizing the aircraft.

What Airbus and regulators are doing

On 28 November 2025, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring all operators of A320-family jets to install “serviceable” ELAC units or immediately revert to a previous, stable version of the software - before any further flights.

For the majority of affected aircraft, the fix involves a software rollback - a process that takes roughly two to three hours per plane and can be done during a ground turnaround.

Scale and global impact

There are about 11,300 A320-family aircraft currently in operation worldwide. The advisory affects roughly 6,000 of them - representing a massive portion of global single-aisle narrow-body traffic.

Airlines globally - from North America (e.g. JetBlue, American Airlines) to Europe (e.g. easyJet, Lufthansa), Latin America (e.g. Avianca), Australia (e.g. Jetstar), and India (e.g. IndiGo, Air India) - have acknowledged that their A320-family operations are affected.

The grounding and repair campaign come at a particularly sensitive time: a major travel weekend globally (especially in the US), which will likely lead to cancellations, delays, and rescheduling, causing significant disruption for passengers worldwide.

Why this matters 

The setback appears to be among the largest recalls affecting Airbus in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model. 

The incident underscores how modern airliners rely heavily on complex software systems and sensitive avionics, even external environmental phenomena such as solar radiation (traditionally a concern for satellites and space tech) can pose new risks for aircraft.

It highlights the fragility of global air travel infrastructure - with a single software glitch affecting thousands of planes, regulators and manufacturers now scrambling to retrofit and inspect a large portion of the global fleet.

The official line: caution first

Airbus has described the recall as a “precautionary action”. In its official message to operators, Airbus stressed that it identified “a significant number of A320-family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted” and urged carriers to apply either software or hardware-protection “before next flight”. 

Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers. e apologise for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.

Also Read- World’s Biggest A320 Emergency Recall Sparks Chaos In Airlines: Flights Impacted Across Continents. Here’s How Bad It Is