Airbus said it was carrying out a critical software update to a large proportion of its A320 fleet, sending airlines around the world scrambling to make the changes to the popular aircraft while avoiding potentially frustrating flight disruptions.
What happened?
Airbus’s step comes after an incident involving a JetBlue flight on October 30.
The plane took off from Mexico and was forced to make an emergency landing in Florida after a sudden drop in altitude. At least 15 people were reportedly injured.
On Friday, Airbus said in its analysis found that “intense solar radiation” may possibly corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 – and that the issue affected a “significant number” of jets.
Airbus said it immediately suspended the operation of these aircraft and was working with aviation authorities while fixing both software and hardware on the A320s.
French group Thales, which makes the computer behind the A320 issue, said on Saturday that “the functionality in question is supported by software that is not under Thales’ responsibility”.
The flight control computer is certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and US Federal Aviation Administration, and has been in operation since March 2001, accumulating 50 million flight hours per year on 10,000 A320s.
Thales, however, is “fully co-operating with Airbus and the relevant authorities to help resume flight operations for the affected aircraft as quickly as possible” it added in its statement.
The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, said safety inspections and required maintenance on A320 aircraft operated by UAE national carriers are currently underway.
“The GCAA is closely coordinating with Easa and all concerned operators to ensure full compliance with airworthiness and safety requirements. These inspections aim to maintain the highest standards of operational safety and to ensure uninterrupted flight operations across the UAE,” it said in a statement to The National.
How have airlines reacted?
Airlines around the world moved quickly following the recall, carrying out software fixes to minimise travel disruption.
Etihad Airways told The National that A320 flights had “returned to normal following the successful installation of the required Airbus software update across our A320 fleet”.
“The update was completed quickly and with minimal disruption – despite this being one of the busiest travel periods at Zayed International Airport ahead of the long weekend,” it said.
Air Arabia said it expects to complete all updates across its A320 fleet by the end of Saturday.
In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s flag carrier Saudia said on social media that it was “monitoring and reviewing any updates and assessing their potential impact on flight schedules”.
“Should these updates necessitate any adjustments, affected passengers will be contacted directly,” the Riyadh-based carrier said.
Saudia’s budget arm flyadeal said it has completed the mandatory aircraft software updates and expects operations to be fully back to normal by midnight today, while fellow low-cost carrier Flynas, which operates an all-A320 fleet comprising 66 planes, said the recalibration is expected to result in “longer turnaround times between a limited number of flights and some delays”.
EgyptAir “promptly established a specialised task force” to address the issue and complete the software updates “in record time”. Kuwait Airways said delays are to be expected while the updates are being carried out, while fellow Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways does not expect any significant impact on its fleet operations or network schedule.
Turkish Airlines said eight of its A320 aircraft have been “successfully” updated and “safely returned to operation in line with the instructions of all relevant aviation authorities”, senior vice president Yahya Ustun told The National.
In India, aviation authorities said more than 300 A320 aircraft operated by Air India and IndiGo were affected by the issue.
Early on Saturday, Air India said on X that its engineers had completed a software reset on more than 40 per cent of its A320 fleet, and that no flight cancellations had been made or planned – although it acknowledged that some flights may be delayed or rescheduled.
IndiGo said that as of 10.30am UAE time on Saturday, 160 out of its 200 A320 jets have been fixed, with a few flights expected to have minimal delays.
Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 A320 aircraft, cancelled 65 domestic flights scheduled for Saturday. The Tokyo-based airline did not rule out the possibility of further cancellations on Sunday.
In the US, American Airlines said more than 200 of its nearly 500 A320 planes were affected. The world’s largest carrier by passengers and daily flights had said software updates would be completed by Friday and Saturday. It said delays were to be expected but cancellations would be limited.
Delta Air Lines, on the other hand, said the issue affected less than 50 of its A321 Neo planes, while United Airlines said only six planes were affected.
Air New Zealand, meanwhile, said that while its A320 fleet was safe to operate, it made a decision to ground the aircraft on Saturday out of precaution.
The National has reached out to Qatar Airways.
Bad timing?
The Airbus A320 issue comes as the busy December holiday season starts and air travel peaks around the world.
However, given that updating the software on each A320 aircraft can take only up to three hours according to estimates, travel disruptions are unlikely to reach elevated levels.
So far, no major disruptions have taken place, and airlines have largely mitigated the effects of the updating process.
That’s the “silver lining”, although it is still “definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend”, said Mike Stengel, a partner at US consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory.
What is the A320?
The Airbus A320 is Toulouse-based Airbus’s best-selling aircraft, leading the key single-aisle aeroplane category.
The aircraft is popular among both mainline and low-cost carriers and boasts the widest single-aisle cabin, according to the Airbus website.
The A320 Neo family, in particular, benefits from 20 per cent fuel burn reduction compared to previous-generation aircraft, along with additional flight ranges and extra payload, it adds.
In the Middle East, the most notable operators of the A320 family are Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, Sharjah’s Air Arabia, Saudi Arabian Airlines, EgyptAir and Turkish Airlines. Flydubai and Riyadh Air do not operate the A320, but have placed orders for them.
Intense solar radiation is a higher-than-usual flow of electromagnetic waves from the Sun, which can disrupt the operation of technology – including aviation systems and satellite communications – on Earth.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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