JetBlue Still Recovers From Airbus Software Issue as A320 Groundings Persist

JetBlue continues working to recover from the grounding of a significant portion of its A320-family fleet as it addresses an Airbus-identified software issue affecting operators worldwide. Although progress has accelerated, the airline said more than a dozen aircraft remained out of service as of Sunday afternoon.

In an internal memo to employees, Chief Operating Officer Warren Christie reported that “as of 12:30 ET on Sunday, we still had about 50 of the 150 affected aircraft out of service.” He added that the remaining grounded jets forced the airline to increase cancellations to 160 flights for the day.

JetBlue’s system operations team is “working hard to stay ahead of needed cancellations so our crewmembers and customers receive as much notice as possible,” Christie said, noting that the situation “remains fluid,” but improves “every time an aircraft is completed and returned to service.”

Christie reiterated that JetBlue will “never compromise when it comes to safety” and emphasized that “following the FAA’s directive precisely before returning any aircraft to service is our top focus.”

JetBlue expects most of the affected aircraft to return to service soon. Christie said the airline anticipates having “approximately 137 of the 150 affected aircraft” restored by Monday morning. An additional 140 aircraft across the A320, A321, and A220 fleets were not impacted by the FAA directive.

A spokesperson added that JetBlue is working closely with Airbus, the FAA, and maintenance partners as updates continue. “Our teams are doing everything possible to minimize disruptions to crewmembers and customers,” the spokesperson said.

JetBlue expects to cancel roughly 20 flights on Monday, with additional cancellations possible as the remaining aircraft complete the required software update.

Other U.S. Airlines Have Nearly Completed the Updates

Other U.S. A320-family operators have made faster progress. American Airlines said it completed work on nearly all of its roughly 340 affected aircraft over the weekend. Delta confirmed it finished updates on its A321neo fleet with “no effect on operations.”

United said only six aircraft were impacted and expected limited disruptions. Allegiant and Frontier each said only a small number of their aircraft required updates and reported minimal operational impact.

The FAA’s emergency directive followed a JetBlue A320 incident on Oct. 30, when an aircraft operating as Flight 1230 from Cancun to Newark experienced an unexpected loss of altitude. Investigators later identified a malfunction in a flight-control computer system, prompting regulators to determine that other A320-family aircraft with the same hardware could be vulnerable.

Airbus subsequently issued guidance to operators, and U.S. regulators followed with an emergency airworthiness directive.

“Out of a total number of around 6,000 aircraft potentially impacted, the vast majority have now received the necessary modifications,” Airbus said Monday Dec. 1. “We are working with our airline customers to support the modification of less than 100 remaining aircraft to ensure they can be returned to service.”

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, yahoo.com