Global air travel is bracing for massive turbulence this weekend as the world’s most widely used single-aisle aircraft — the Airbus A320 family — prepares for an unprecedented, large-scale grounding to undergo a crucial software upgrade. In India alone, more than 350 A320-series jets operated by IndiGo and the Air India Group will be taken out of service, with flights expected to resume by Monday or Tuesday. Worldwide, the effect is expected to hit nearly 6,000 aircraft.

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How an American flight forced Airbus to ground 6,000 A320 jets overnight?

The action stems from an incident involving a JetBlue A320 flying from Cancun to Newark on October 30, 2025, when the aircraft “unexpectedly pitch(ed) downward without pilot input.” Investigators believe the uncontrolled drop “likely occurred during an ELAC (flight control computer) switch change,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The aircraft was forced to divert to Tampa, where several passengers required hospitalisation.

To neutralise the risk, Airbus has mandated an immediate software upgrade across the global A320 fleet. Newer aircraft can be updated in roughly 30 minutes using a “loading facility,” while older jets will require additional hardware modifications — extending the downtime. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive (EAD), cautioning that these safety measures “may unfortunately cause disruption to flight schedules and inconvenience to passengers. As is always the case in aviation, safety is paramount.”

350 of IndiGo & AI impacted in India

For Indian carriers, nearly all of IndiGo’s A320 aircraft are newer-generation models, with older planes in only single digits. Sources indicate that IndiGo’s upgrade for about 250 aircraft should be completed by early next week. Air India, with a fleet of around 120–125 A320s, faces a similar situation, with over 100 aircraft affected.

Air India acknowledged the disruption in a statement on X, “We are aware of a directive from Airbus related to its A320 family aircraft currently in-service across airline operators. This will result in a software/hardware realignment on a part of our fleet, leading to longer turnaround time and delays to our scheduled operations. Air India regrets any inconvenience this may cause to passengers till the reset is carried out across the fleet.”

Airbus, in its own statement, attributed the problem to space weather, revealing that “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.” The company confirmed it had “identified a significant number of A320 family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted,” and said it worked closely with regulators to issue an immediate alert operators transmission (AOT) to enforce protective software and hardware updates. “This AOT will be reflected in an emergency airworthiness directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA),” the statement noted.

The aircraft manufacturer added that it “acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers” and apologised “for the inconvenience caused,” reaffirming that it “will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.”

EASA’s emergency directive further underscored the gravity of the issue: “An Airbus A320 aeroplane recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful. Preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected ELAC as possible contributing factor. This condition, if not corrected, could lead in the worst-case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft’s structural capability.”