Israeli airlines mostly unaffected as Airbus grounds 6,000 jets for software update

Arkia says no flights disrupted by European aviation giant’s emergency recall on some A320 models; 1 Israir plane briefly grounded; El Al untouched as it only operates Boeing jets

Israeli airlines were largely unaffected by Airbus’s emergency software recall, which it ordered Friday for thousands of its best-selling A320 passenger jets in a move that temporarily grounded some 6,000 planes, disrupting flights globally.

The European aviation manufacturer said the move would affect a “significant number” of A320 models, and a bulletin sent out by the company to airlines said the update had to be carried out before the next routine flight.

Airbus said in a statement that an October recent incident involving an A320-family aircraft had revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

Industry sources said the incident that triggered the unexpected repair action involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30, in which several passengers were hurt following a sharp loss of altitude.

Arkia and Israir, Israel’s two budget airlines, both operate Airbus jets, though between them, only one plane had to be updated and zero flights were disrupted.

Israir said Saturday that it was already updating the only jet in its fleet that needed the software change, and that the jet will be ready for service as early as Sunday morning.

Arkia, which operates one A320 model, said the jet did not need updates, though it said it would update its two A321 models, which were also affected by the same issue.

El Al, Israel’s main airline, only operates Boeing models.

Some 3,000 A320-family jets were in the air worldwide shortly after the Airbus announcement, and thousands of flights around the globe were disrupted during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.

There are around 11,300 A320-family aircraft in operation, including 6,440 of the core A320 model, which first flew in 1987.

The setback appeared to be among the largest mass recalls affecting Airbus in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the world’s most-delivered passenger jet.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury acknowledged that the fix “has been causing significant logistical challenges and delays,” but added its operators were working around the clock to ensure the required updates “are deployed as swiftly as possible to get planes back in the sky.”

Several leading European airlines said there had been minimal or no cancellations as a result, although there were indications the situation was more problematic in Latin America and Asia.

Agencies contributed to this report.