‘Nothing is more important than safety’: Airbus CEO apologises for A320 disruptions

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has apologised after a mandatory software fix for certain A320-family aircraft triggered widespread delays across airlines. The technical directive has caused operational challenges across fleets globally, affecting both carriers and passengers.

In a LinkedIn statement, Faury acknowledged the disruption and reaffirmed Airbus’s commitment to safety. “The fix required on some #A320 aircraft has been causing significant logistical challenges and delays since yesterday. I want to sincerely apologise to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now. But we consider that nothing is more important than safety when people fly on one of our Airbus Aircraft — like millions do every day,” he wrote. “Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are deployed as swiftly as possible to get planes back in the sky and resume normal operations, with the safety assurance you expect from #Airbus.”

The apology comes after Airbus issued an immediate call on November 28 for a software update to a significant portion of its A320 fleet. According to industry sources, the directive affects approximately 6,000 aircraft — representing over half of all A320 jets currently in service worldwide.

Airbus revealed that the action follows a recent incident involving an A320-family aircraft where intense solar radiation was found to potentially corrupt critical data used by the flight control system. The manufacturer said the issue warranted urgent software updates to ensure uninterrupted and safe aircraft operations.

In response, India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has instructed all domestic carriers to ground any impacted A318, A319, A320, and A321 aircraft until the required inspections and software modifications are complete. The DGCA order makes it clear that no aircraft under the scope of this directive can operate until fully compliant.

Operators have been directed to confirm all updates in accordance with the Airworthiness Procedure Manual. Additionally, airlines must revise their Master Mandatory Modification Lists and ensure full compliance with safety measures aligned with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) protocols.