New Delhi, Nov 29 Air travel across India and several other countries is set for widespread disruption this weekend after global aviation regulators ordered immediate software updates for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft amid concerns that solar radiation may affect critical systems. Aviation experts have termed the situation “a major air crisis,” warning of possible repercussions for safety, tourism and business travel.
Speaking to IANS, aviation expert Subhash Goyal said the scope of the issue was significant, both globally and domestically.
“There are over 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft worldwide that could be affected, with around 250 in India. For the newer models, software updates take 2–3 hours, but for older A320s, updates may take 1–2 days. This is an air crisis which will affect both tourism and business trades,” he said.
Explaining the technical concern, Goyal added that the issue emerged after an incident involving a mid-air pitch-down of an Airbus A320. “This crisis suddenly arose because when an Airbus 320 was coming in, it suddenly went down mid-air. It is said that extra radiation is causing hits due to which these problems come. The ELAC system, when an aircraft switches over, can get affected,” he noted, referring to the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC), a key part of the flight control system.
Aviation expert Sanat Kaul echoed the assessment, emphasising that Airbus has explicitly directed airlines to update onboard systems. “Airbus has stated that their software needs to be upgraded; otherwise, it could get damaged. The damage could affect either software or hardware, which is why they have instructed that all their airplanes undergo the software update,” he said.
The urgent global action follows a safety investigation into a JetBlue flight incident on October 30, when an Airbus A320 operating from Cancun to Newark suddenly pitched down, injuring 15 passengers. The aircraft later diverted to Tampa for medical assistance. The US National Transportation Safety Board linked the event to a flight control fault triggered during a switching event.
Based on these findings, regulators, including the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) and Airbus issued mandatory directives for operators to update affected systems.
In India, more than 350 A320-series aircraft operated by IndiGo and the Air India Group will undergo the upgrade, temporarily reducing capacity through the weekend. The process for newer jets can take under 30 minutes, while older planes may require additional hardware adjustments, stretching the downtime to two or three days. Airlines expect operations to stabilise by December 1 or 2.
Meanwhile, Airbus confirmed the reason behind the mandatory update, stating that strong solar radiation could corrupt critical flight control data on certain A320-family jets. The fix is designed to eliminate this potential vulnerability and ensure continued safe operation.
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