According to aviation insiders, there’s a possible grounding of Airbus narrowbodies coming worldwide. Watchdog JonNYC was first to share this information. However I do not expect aircraft to be grounded for long, and I’d expect a staggering to minimize flight disruptions.
also 100%++ unconfirmed
"someone says AA Will be doing cxl package for A320 fleet … but this will effect ALL a320 worldwide
",mandatory software update"
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) November 28, 2025
All signs say this A320 issue is accurate, airworthiness directive from Airbus imminent
Unconfirmed
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) November 28, 2025
Jon suggests that the issue is an with an aileron computer. This was identified as the cause of a JetBlue A320 issue on October 30th where a Cancun to Newark flight “unexpectedly pitched downward without pilot input” and diverted to Tampa. The Thales ELAC 2 computer malfunctioned and was replaced. This interpets pilot commands to control the aircraft.
10-15 passengers were hospitalized after the aircraft rapidly descended without being instructed by pilots to do so. The uncontrolled descent “likely occurred during an ELAC switch change” according to the National Transportation Safety Board. This is not supposed to happen! If there’s an issue with one ELAC computer, the other is supposed to take control without missing a beat.
Presumably, then, what’s being anticipated is a requirement related to these computers.
- Each aircraft has two, supplied primarily by Thales. There’s also a repair and overhaul ecosystem, not just new equipment production.
- The U.S. FAA proposed an airworthiness directive in 2018 requiring all ELAC units on Airbus A320 family aircraft to be upgraded with new software or replaced with upgraded units due to angle of attack issues.
- With about 10,000 A320-family aircraft in service (all variants and engine options), you can’t just pull and replace every ELAC on the planet quickly. The FAA airworthiness directive used compliance windows and software load options.
I’m fascinated to see how this plays out, because the suggestion is there will be an immediate flight cancellation package, while I’d expect it to be small. Normally you’d expect to see a software upgrade loaded onto existing boxes first, with staggered compliance (different deadlines by serial number, block or hours flown, often tied to C-check/D-check intervals). Meanwhile, Airbus, Thales and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul shops would ramp production and repair.
That is, unless the issue that’s been found is more significant than much of what we’ve seen in the past (on the scale of 737 MAX MCAS system which grounded that aircraft), I’d expect cancellations to be minor and phased. So I’ll be watching to see exactly what happens here. JonNYC notes that tomorrow’s flights with these aircraft do not currently show any cancellations.
And indeed, Jon now confirms that it’s a software upgrade that’s expected:
I consider this fully confirmed at this point. ELAC , software update needed.
Should take a couple hours for each plane, will take longer on some than others. Plan with FAA being worked on now. https://t.co/v8fEgne6wv
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) November 28, 2025
Airbus, for its part, has issued a vaguely-worded statement that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls” and that they have:
[W]orked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly.
…Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers.
Specific details of timing and flight cancellations will be forthcoming.
Perfect time of year for this.
Airbus needs to work on its communications: “in order (for airlines) to implement the available software protection” suggests that the critical update was unavailable before the serious incident. CYA on full display…
Maybe the only time I’m happy my upcoming UA flights are on the 737-MAX and not airbus
Prepare to sleep on the floor at ATL.
Not clear what you mean, Captain Freedom.
Gene
Airbus hasn’t said what age is considered “older” and thus require the hardware rather than just software update but most of United’s 319/320 fleet is over 10 years old and larger than DL’s older fleet of those types.
I wonder if those who swore off Boeing airplanes will now swear off Airbus ones.
siitting on A321 getting ready to push back from DFW at 1:30 cst when the stop order hit…after 13 hours from NZ and 5 hours at DFW…grrrrr
I didn’t see anything in the article saying this is effecting only older variants. It says ALL A320’s. Presumably A320 Neo’s are still A320’s, so… but also, I’m just a stew, so there’s that. Lol
So, Thales also also has a $9/hr H-1B contractor problem?
Ailerons do not cause pitch issues. Ailerons are for roll control.
Reminds me of the abrupt cancellations with Delta’s subsidiary Endeavor from earlier this year; relatively unexplained ‘technical’ issue for nearly their whole fleet of CRJs caused chaos for 1-2 days, around June 6-8, 2025. Had to rebook last minute on my own dime with American. Wild for AA to save the day.
Eric,
2/3 of the 320 family aircraft only need a software update; older aircraft will need hardware changes.
@Tim Dunn — Speaking of hardware changes… when’s Delta gonna finally retire those 717s? They’re ~25 years old… if they were women, Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn’t even date them.
This must hurt the Boeing bashers here.
1990
the 717s are younger than a number of other aircraft in AA, DL and UA’s fleets.
The issue w/ the 717 is that they are subject to wing spar inspections – which I believe are done by passing an electric current which fails if there is a crack – but it is time-consuming.
Older aircraft just require more maintenance even if they have low ownership costs.
Cranky just did an article on parts shortages for UA’s Pratt engines on their 777s.
DL is still expected to announce a large order that could include the 787 and more MAXs which could be large enough to allow DL to accelerate retirement of the 717s and 767s.
They are presenting a large investor conference next week so there could be announcements then.
@Tim Dunn — Yeah, Delta probably made the right choice to retire its 772s early; whereas, United had several high-profile incidents with theirs in recent years (the engine blow-out from DEN, the wheel pop-out from SFO, etc.)
@This comes to mind — Naw, not at all; Boeing is still a tragedy; loss of a once-great company to corporate greed and malfeasance. Airbus is still the more honorable company with better products these days. Yet, sure, fine, the ‘wheel’ is better than the ‘joy stick.’ Ok.
Auckland’s airport was aparrently a zoo this (Saturday) morning. All Air NZ and Jetstar narrowbodies are the 320 family. It wasn’t until this afternoon that the NZ FAA-equivalent ruled that 320s could fly before being updated.
Wondering how the 7th largest airline in North America from the 51st state just North of the border is doing thus far with all of this? Seems AC tends to slip under the radar sometimes undeservedly so.
Especially as we look forward to another great Blue Jays season next year!
@This comes to mind — Oof. Didn’t realize you were a Kiwi. Kia ora!
Avianca today closed all sales of tickets through Dec 8, so they can do the software upgrades with less disruption to currently booked customers. According to their notice, seventy percent of their fleet is A320s.
It was frustrating because I was trying to buy a ticket today, but glad to see them taking a proactive position.
From their website: “Dear customers: We inform you that due to a software update required by the manufacturer for a significant portion of our fleet, our operations will be significantly impacted from November 29 to December 8. Please check the status of your flights. Learn more here.”
1990
AA still flies almost four dozen 777-200s and another dozen and a half 77Ws and haven’t had problems so UA is unique in its maintenance issues w/ the PW powered 772s. having any a fleet of 18 aircraft out of a fleet of then 900 was not efficient.
DL got rid of its 777s because their fleet of 18 aircraft was split between 2 engines – Rolls and GE. The A350 has now gained the range that the 77L once had so there is no reason to have kept the more expensive 777s.
the 320 issue appears to be a non-event in the US; most cancellations are because of snow and ice in Chicagoland this a.m. while BNA and DFW both have ground stops, apparently due to ATC staffing. It will be a rough day for AA esp. and WN if ATC doesn’t get staffed.
@Denver Refugee
There’s no such a thing as a $9/hr H1B contractor.
Heck, even an offshore contractor wouldn’t be $9 let alone someone on H1B
Airbus knew about the bug from similar but undisclosed events on two Asian carriers in 2021 and 2023. The jetblue flight lacked radiation-mitigation filters that were silently added to later versions.