Overview
- Airbus and EASA ordered urgent action on more than 6,000 A320‑family aircraft after identifying a vulnerability to intense solar radiation in ELAC flight‑control systems.
- Airbus reports roughly 5,000 jets have returned to service following a software rollback, with France’s transport minister saying the updates proceeded smoothly.
- About 900 aircraft require ELAC hardware replacement, extending groundings and causing localized disruptions, including 95 ANA cancellations in Japan and 90 at Australia’s Jetstar, plus delays reported by Indian carriers.
- EASA’s emergency airworthiness directive is being implemented by carriers globally, and safety authorities including the NTSB continue to review the October 30 JetBlue descent that triggered the action.
- Thales, cited as the ELAC hardware supplier, said the implicated functionality falls outside its software responsibility, as airlines manage operations through crisis teams during a peak travel period.