Delta Replacing APUs on Airbus A320 Fleet to Address Toxic Fume Risk

Delta Air Lines is replacing auxiliary power units (APUs)—a type of engine—across its Airbus fleet to address toxic fume incidents that have raised health and safety concerns for flight crews and passengers.

The airline confirmed to CBS News that it is replacing APUs on more than 300 Airbus A320-family aircraft, an initiative that began in 2022 and is now more than 90% complete. Delta did not disclose the cost of the program.

The affected APUs have been linked to incidents in which engine oil fumes leak into cabin air, exposing crew members and passengers to potentially harmful substances. Flight attendants have long called attention to the issue. “I felt like I might die,” flight attendant Vanessa Woods told CBS News in 2016 after breathing engine fumes on a flight she was crewing.

A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that toxic fume leakage most commonly occurs on the Airbus A320 family of narrowbody jets. Exposure to such emissions can lead to nervous system problems, said Dr. Robert Harrison, an occupational medicine specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, who has treated more than 100 flight crew members for fume-related illnesses.

Delta said it is also testing new synthetic turbine oils from different manufacturers to further reduce the risk of cabin contamination.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CBS News he has personally focused on the issue for over a decade. United runs a proactive maintenance program that tracks engine oil consumption and pressure and replaces APU seals to prevent oil leaks before they result in fumes entering cabins. He added that the problem is not a concern on newer aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which uses a different design.

Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle, whose carrier also operates an Airbus fleet, said while the company monitors the issue, such incidents are very rare.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, cbsnews.com, wsj.com