PIA says unaffected by Airbus recall as global airlines race to fix software glitch

• An analysis found computer code may have contributed to sudden drop in altitude of JetBlue plane that injured 15 passengers last month
• Airlines reported short-term disruptions heading into the weekend as they fixed the software glitch on the widely used commercial aircraft

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Saturday it remained unaffected by a recall of Airbus A320 jets by the European planemaker, with global airlines scrambling to fix a software glitch that temporarily grounded aircraft in Asia and Europe and threatened travel in the United States.

Airlines around the world reported short-term disruptions heading into the weekend as they fixed software on the widely used commercial aircraft after an analysis found the computer code may have contributed to a sudden drop in the altitude of a JetBlue plane last month.

Airbus said on Friday that an examination of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) joined the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in requiring airlines to address the issue with a new software update that was supposed to impact more than 500 US-registered aircraft.

“On the subject of issues with Flight Controls Software (ELAC-L104) on Airbus planes, it is clarified that PIA did not load the faulty software patch,” the airline said on X.

“Our planes are perfectly safe and there shall be no flight disruption consequently.”

The EU safety agency said it may cause “short-term disruption” to flight schedules. The problem was introduced by a software update to the plane’s onboard computers, according to the agency.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to customers after the required fix led to “significant logistical challenges and delays.”

“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,” he wrote in a message posted on LinkedIn on Saturday.

At least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and taken to the hospital after the Oct. 30 incident on board the flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.

Airbus, which is registered in the Netherlands but has its main headquarters in France, is one of the world’s biggest airplane manufacturers, alongside Boeing. The A320 is the world’s bestselling single-aisle aircraft family, according to the Airbus website.

The A320 is the primary competitor to Boeing’s 737, according to Mike Stengel, a partner with the aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. Airbus updated its engine in the mid-2010s, and planes in this category are called A320neo.