Airlines across Asia, Europe, and the United States worked overnight to resolve a software issue on thousands of Airbus A320-family aircraft following an emergency directive from global regulators.
The action, prompted by an October 30 JetBlue flight that experienced an unintended loss of altitude and injured passengers, forced carriers to revert flight-control software and, in some cases, replace hardware before resuming operations.
The recall affected more than 6,000 jets, over half the active A320 fleet, but timely overnight maintenance limited widespread cancellations.
Major operators reported progress Saturday in applying the fix, which typically requires two to three hours per aircraft.
American Airlines completed updates on nearly all of its 209 affected jets, while Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and JetBlue reported minimal remaining impact.
In Asia, IndiGo finished fixes on 184 of 200 aircraft, Air India on 69 of 113, and Japan’s ANA Holdings canceled 95 flights affecting 13,500 passengers.
European low-cost carriers Wizz Air and EasyJet implemented updates overnight with limited schedule changes, and Lufthansa Group anticipated no cancellations.
Investigators linked the issue to potential corruption of flight-control data from intense solar radiation, introduced by a recent software update.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologized to customers and passengers, stating teams were supporting operators to restore normal operations quickly.
Industry sources said fewer than 1,000 older aircraft ultimately required hardware replacement, easing initial concerns.
Although the directive coincided with heavy post-Thanksgiving travel in the United States, analysts described disruptions as contained rather than chaotic.