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European plane manufacturer Airbus has identified a software problem with its popular narrowbody A320 family, but the required fix might not affect Seattle travelers.
The A320 family, comparable to Boeing’s Renton-built 737 MAX, includes a series of single-aisle planes that seat about 150-180 people and are used for regional and longer routes.
On Friday, Airbus requested “immediate precautionary action” to ensure its A320 fleet is safe to operate, potentially affecting flights for major U.S. airlines, including Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Alaska, the largest carrier serving Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, had been “proudly all Boeing” until it acquired Hawaiian Airlines last year, adding Hawaiian’s Airbus fleet to its own arsenal. Alaska now has 17 A321s in service and one in storage, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
A spokesperson for Hawaiian Airlines said Friday the Airbus order will not affect its operations.
Delta, the second largest carrier at Sea-Tac, has roughly 300 A320-family planes in service and another 14 in storage, according to Cirium data. Of those flying, Delta has 53 A319s in service, 48 A320s and 204 A321s.
Delta could not be reached for Friday.
Airbus, which has more than 1,600 A320 family aircraft in service in the U.S., said it discovered “intense solar radiation” might affect data critical to the plane’s flight control functions.
It identified the matter after a JetBlue flight experienced an uncommanded pitch event in October.
The flight was headed from Cancún, Mexico, to Newark, N.J., but diverted to Tampa, Fla., after a flight control issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane landed safely with some passengers taken to the hospital for injuries sustained during the flight.
Airbus found that a “malfunction” in the elevator and aileron computer, a critical flight control, might have been a “possible contributing factor” to the pitch event, according to a Friday bulletin from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
To address the matter, Airbus directed carriers to replace or modify the computer system before their next flight, according to the directive.
“We apologize for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority,” Airbus said in a statement.
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