India's Aviation Regulator Takes Swift Action on Airbus A320 Fleet
India's aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), issued an urgent safety directive on Saturday that temporarily halted operations of specific Airbus A320-family aircraft. This decisive action came after aircraft manufacturer Airbus warned that intense solar radiation could corrupt critical flight-control data on numerous in-service jets, requiring immediate software modifications.
Scale of the Directive and Airline Compliance
The regulator's order impacted a total of 338 jets across Indian airlines. However, by Saturday afternoon, significant progress had already been made, with 189 aircraft (56%) having received the necessary software upgrade. The DGCA confirmed that the entire upgrade process for all affected planes is expected to be completed by Sunday.
InterGlobe Aviation's IndiGo, the country's largest carrier and a major Airbus customer, was the most affected. Of its 417-strong fleet, 363 are A320-family aircraft, with 200 requiring the update. The airline successfully upgraded 160 of these jets by Saturday. A spokesperson for IndiGo confirmed that no flights were cancelled as a result of these mandatory checks.
The Tata Group-owned airlines also worked swiftly to address the issue. Air India completed upgrades on 42 of its 113 impacted aircraft, while its subsidiary, Air India Express, fixed 4 out of its 25 affected jets. Air India Express reported four flight cancellations due to the directive, though Air India and IndiGo experienced none.
The Technical Issue and Global Context
The problem centers on the ELAC (Elevator Aileron Computer) flight-control system, which is responsible for transmitting side-stick commands to the rear elevators. Airbus identified that powerful solar radiation could interfere with this system's data.
In response, Airbus collaborated with global aviation authorities, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), to issue an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) calling for immediate precautionary action. The EASA has directed that the issue must be resolved before an affected aircraft's next flight, either by replacing or modifying the compromised software or hardware. Airbus acknowledged that these necessary measures would likely cause operational disruptions for passengers.
The DGCA's mandatory order stated that no operator should fly an aircraft falling under this safety notice unless it has been modified in accordance with the required airworthiness directives, underscoring the critical nature of this flight safety update.
