Airlines across the globe scrambled to update software on thousands of Airbus A320-family aircraft after a software glitch linked to intense solar radiation caused a frightening midair incident last month. The urgent fixes, ordered on November 29, 2025, led to widespread—though mostly short-term—flight cancellations and delays, with the ripple effects felt from Tokyo to Paris and from New York to Sydney just as the U.S. entered its busiest travel weekend of the year.
The crisis erupted after an investigation into a JetBlue flight from Cancun to Newark on October 30, 2025, revealed that a sudden, uncontrolled descent was triggered by a malfunction in the plane’s elevator aileron computer. According to Airbus, intense solar radiation had corrupted critical flight control data, a vulnerability introduced by a recent software update. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida, and at least 15 passengers were hospitalized, as reported by the Associated Press and Simple Flying.
With the world’s bestselling single-aisle aircraft family at the center of the storm, regulators sprang into action. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) jointly mandated a new software update for more than 6,000 aircraft worldwide, including over 500 U.S.-registered planes. The fix, according to the agencies, was urgent but relatively quick for most planes—requiring about two hours per aircraft. Still, the timing could hardly have been worse for U.S. airlines, which faced the brunt of the disruption during the Thanksgiving rush, projected to be the busiest on record.
American Airlines, with more than 200 affected planes, canceled over 120 flights and delayed more than 530 on November 29 alone, according to data from FlightAware and coverage by Simple Flying. The airline initially estimated that 340 aircraft needed updates but revised that figure to 209. By Saturday, most of American’s planes were back in service, with only a handful still awaiting the fix. "Safety is our overriding priority," the airline said, emphasizing efforts to limit cancellations.
Other carriers faced similar headaches. All Nippon Airways (ANA) in Japan canceled 65 domestic flights on November 30, with the possibility of more cancellations the following day. Air France scrapped several flights out of Paris on Saturday morning, while Australia’s Jetstar canceled around 90 flights. Colombia’s Avianca reported that 70% of its fleet was affected and suspended ticket sales until December 8. Despite the chaos, many airlines managed to avoid major disruptions. IndiGo, one of the world’s largest A320neo operators, reported no flight cancellations, though it warned of slight delays. Air India said it had already updated over 90% of its affected fleet, with no cancellations.
In the U.S., Delta Air Lines said fewer than 50 of its A321neo aircraft were impacted and completed updates with no operational impact. United Airlines reported six affected planes, anticipating only minor disruptions. Hawaiian Airlines was unaffected. British Airways and easyJet in the UK, as well as Wizz Air in Europe, reported minimal impact after completing updates overnight, confirmed by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. Scandinavian carrier SAS also resumed normal operations after overnight work by its teams.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury acknowledged the disruption and apologized to customers for the "significant logistical challenges and delays" caused by the emergency fix. "Our teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are deployed as swiftly as possible to get planes back in the sky and resume normal operations, with the safety assurance you expect from Airbus," Faury wrote on LinkedIn, as quoted by Associated Press and Simple Flying.
The timing of the recall proved more fortuitous for Asian and European airlines, many of which operate shorter-haul flights that wind down in the evening. This allowed teams to perform software updates overnight, minimizing passenger impact. In France, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot told BFM-TV that the situation had "almost completely returned to normal in French airports" by November 30, following the installation of several software updates. Germany’s Lufthansa completed most updates during the night and Saturday morning, with no cancellations expected but minor delays possible. The UK saw minimal disruption, with British Airways updating just three aircraft and easyJet warning customers about potential schedule changes.
But not all airlines were able to sidestep the chaos. In Australia, Jetstar’s mass cancellations left many travelers stranded, while Avianca’s decision to halt ticket sales underscored the severity of the problem for some carriers. The emergency directive also posed unique challenges for high-profile flights. Pope Leo XIV, on his inaugural foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon, was flying aboard an ITA Airways Airbus A320neo charter. The Vatican’s spokesman, Matteo Bruni, confirmed that the necessary software component and a technician were en route to Istanbul to update the aircraft before the Pope’s scheduled flight to Beirut on December 1.
Industry experts noted that while the fix was generally straightforward, the scale of the recall—impacting half of the A320 fleet, or about 6,000 planes—was unprecedented. Mike Stengel, a partner at AeroDynamic Advisory, remarked, "Definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend. Although again the silver lining being that it only should take a few hours to update the software." Still, several hundred planes may require more extensive hardware fixes, potentially grounding them for longer periods.
The A320 family, first introduced in the late 1980s and updated with new engines in the mid-2010s (the A320neo), is the world’s primary rival to Boeing’s 737. With around 11,300 A320-family jets in service today, the aircraft is the backbone of short- and medium-haul fleets for airlines worldwide. The recent glitch has put a spotlight on the growing complexity of modern avionics—and the vulnerabilities that can emerge when software, hardware, and the environment interact in unpredictable ways.
As the dust settles, most airlines have resumed normal operations, and the vast majority of affected planes are back in the air. The episode, however, has served as a stark reminder of the aviation industry’s reliance on both robust technology and rapid crisis response. For travelers caught up in the delays and cancellations, it was an unwelcome twist to the holiday season. For airlines and regulators, it was a wake-up call—one that, thanks to quick action, did not escalate into a broader safety crisis.