Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed on Saturday that its Airbus A320 aircraft remain fully unaffected by a major global software glitch that forced airlines across Asia, Europe, and the United States to temporarily ground parts of their fleets.
The reassurance came as more than 350 airlines worldwide scrambled to implement emergency fixes after Airbus issued one of the broadest recalls in its 55-year history, covering nearly 6,000 aircraft — more than half of all A320-family jets in operation.
In a statement, the PIA spokesperson said:
“PIA has confirmed that its entire A320 fleet is not affected by this Airbus alert. PIA’s Engineering and Maintenance department is closely monitoring its fleet’s airworthiness, ensuring safe operations.”
Global Airlines Scramble Overnight to Restore Flights
As global regulators ordered carriers to implement a mandatory software reset before resuming operations, airlines worked through the night to keep disruptions to a minimum. The urgency was heightened by peak travel demand in the US following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Despite fears of widespread chaos, airports in Asia and Europe reported moderate delays, thanks to rapid overnight fixes.
Aviation analyst Brendan Sobie noted, “It’s not as chaotic as some people might think… but it does create short-term operational headaches.”
Initial concerns that many jets might require hardware replacements were eased after Airbus informed operators that most issues could be resolved with a simple software rollback to an earlier version.
Still, the recall arrives at a difficult time for the aviation industry, already strained by global labour shortages and delays in aircraft parts.
Asia, Europe, and US Carriers Race to Comply
With over 11,300 A320-family jets in service globally, airlines across multiple continents reported varying levels of disruption:
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Wizz Air completed software updates overnight, anticipating no further issues.
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AirAsia began 48-hour round-the-clock operations to reset its fleet.
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India confirmed 338 affected Airbus aircraft, with IndiGo and Air India warning passengers of delays.
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Japan’s ANA cancelled 95 flights, affecting 13,500 passengers, while JAL remained unaffected due to its Boeing-heavy fleet.
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HK Express, Air Macau, and several South Korean airlines also initiated fixes, most expecting to resume full operations by Sunday.
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In the US, American Airlines said 209 of its 480 A320 aircraft needed the update, which it aimed to complete within a day.
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Lufthansa, easyJet, JetBlue, Delta, and United also began emergency resets.
Latin America also felt the impact, with Avianca reporting that more than 70% of its fleet was affected, forcing the airline to temporarily halt new ticket sales through December 8.
October JetBlue Incident Triggered Massive Recall
Industry officials revealed that the recall was prompted by a frightening incident on October 30, when a JetBlue A320 flight from Cancun to Newark suddenly lost altitude, injuring multiple passengers. Investigations linked the event to the software flaw affecting the aircraft’s flight control systems.
Airbus’ swift global directive was intended to prevent similar incidents before they could occur elsewhere.
With PIA confirming its fleet remains unaffected, Pakistani passengers can expect normal flight operations — even as global airlines continue to race against the clock to return thousands of grounded jets to the skies.
