Nov 28 (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus ordered immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the U.S. and sparking disruption worldwide.
The fix mainly involves reverting to earlier software, but it must be done before the planes can fly again, according to a bulletin to airlines seen by Reuters. Several airlines said the repairs could cause flight delays or cancellations.
Here are major disruptions flagged by airlines as of 0733 GMT in alphabetical order:
Aer Lingus
The Irish carrier said a limited number of aircraft were impacted.
Air France
The airline said it was cancelling 35 flights.
Air India
Air India, which has 113 impacted aircraft, has completed the software fix on 42 aircraft. It expects some flight delays but no cancellations.
Air India Express
Twenty-five aircraft need software fixes, India’s aviation regulator said.
Air New Zealand
The airline expects some cancellations to its services.
American Airlines
The world’s largest A320 operator said it expects some operational delays but cut the number of aircraft requiring the software fix to 209 from 340 it had forecast earlier.
ANA Holdings
The Japanese carrier cancelled 65 flights on Saturday.
Avianca
The Colombian carrier said the recall affected more than 70% of its fleet, inevitably causing “significant” operational disruptions over the next 10 days. Avianca has closed ticket sales for travel dates through December 8.
Delta Airlines
The U.S. carrier expects any operational impact to be limited.
flynas
The Saudi Arabian budget airline expects some flight delays.
IndiGo
India’s largest airline has completed the software fix on 143 out of 200 aircraft, the aviation regulator said. IndiGo has warned of some delays.
Korean Air
The South Korean airline said work on 10 affected aircraft would be completed by Sunday morning.
Latam Airlines
The carrier said a limited number of aircraft needed software fixes.
Lufthansa
The German airline expects a small number of flight cancellations or delays over the weekend.
Turkish Airlines
The company said eight A320 aircraft would return to service after it completes the required actions.
United Airlines
The airline expects minor disruption to a few flights after it said six aircraft were affected by the recall.
Viva
The Mexican airline said its fleet would be affected by the software update, but no time frame has yet been determined for when aircraft will be ready to fly again.
Wizz Air
The European budget airline said the software update had been implemented overnight on all its affected A320s and no further disruption was anticipated.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City, Parth Chandna in Bengaluru, Abhijith Ganapavaram, Ben Blanchard, Tim Kelly; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
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