Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Saturday he has been working closely with Airbus and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as airlines race to complete emergency software repairs.
In a post on X, Duffy said only a small percentage of aircraft nationwide require the immediate software update and emphasized that travelers should not expect major disruptions.
“Working with my team and the [FAA], U.S. carriers jumped into action to complete these updates quickly with minimal disruptions,” Duffy said. “… All impacted U.S. carriers have reported great progress, and are on track to meet the deadline of this Sunday at midnight to complete the work.”
Airbus on Friday ordered immediate repairs across 6,000 of its A320-family aircraft, affecting major carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
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The order is one of the largest recalls in the European aerospace giant’s history and comes amid the busiest travel weekend of the year in the U.S., according to Reuters.
“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” Airbus said in a statement. “Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.”
The recall was triggered by a JetBlue flight traveling Oct. 30 from Cancun to New Jersey that was forced to divert to Tampa after a sudden drop in altitude left several passengers injured, according to Reuters.
The repair primarily involves reverting aircraft to an earlier software version, and the update must be completed before the planes are allowed to fly, Reuters reported.
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American Airlines on Friday said about 340 of its 480 A320-family jets would require the update and that it expected the majority of the work to be completed by Saturday.
The process takes roughly two hours per plane, according to the airline.
“Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations — especially with customers returning home from holiday travel,” American said in a statement.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EADSY | AIRBUS SE | 57.75 | -1.16 | -1.97% |
Delta Air Lines on Friday said fewer than 50 A321neo aircraft in its fleet were affected and that it expected all updates to be completed by Saturday morning.
“As safety comes before everything else, Delta will fully comply with a directive and expects any resulting operational impact to be limited,” Delta said in a statement.
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United told FOX Business in an email that six aircraft in its fleet were affected.
“We expect minor disruption to a few flights,” a United spokesperson said on Friday.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United Airlines are four of the world’s 10 largest operators of Airbus A320-family aircraft, according to Reuters.
Other major carriers — including Lufthansa in Germany, IndiGo in India, and U.K.-based easyJet — said they would briefly take affected aircraft out of service to complete the repairs, Reuters reported.
The recall also prompted Colombian carrier Avianca to suspend ticket sales for travel through December 8, as more than 70% of its fleet is impacted, according to Reuters.
JetBlue did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
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