Flight Disruptions Due To Airbus A320 Glitch: IndiGo, Air India Warns Of Delays; How To Check Flight Status?

A320 Flight Disruptions: Flight passengers may see disruptions on various routes on Saturday, following the aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, issuing an alert that nearly 6,000 operational A320 aircraft may require upgrades. Indian Airlines, IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express clarified that the A320 upgrade has been completed on most of their aircraft. However, there could be some delay in the flight operations.

Some IndiGo flights may see some schedule changes, said the airline in a statement on Saturday. Similarly, Air India and Air India Express flight schedules may also be impacted, leading to delays. However, both airlines have confirmed that they have implemented the Airbus A320 upgrade to most of the aircraft in their fleet, and the process will be completed within the timeline.

For passengers travelling on the weekend, here are the key details they need to know about today's flight disruptions.

IndiGo A320 Flight Disruptions

IndiGo Airlines is working to resolve the issue after Airbus issued a technical advisory for the global A320 fleet. The company is proactively completing the mandated updates on the IndiGo aircraft.

"We are proactively completing the mandated updates on our aircraft with full diligence and care, in line with all safety protocols. While we work through these precautionary updates, some flights may see some slight schedule changes," noted IndiGo in statement.

IndiGo passengers can check their flight status online on the airline's application or visit: https://www.goindigo.in/

Air India A320 Flight Disruptions

Air India is diligently working to complete the mandatory software and hardware realignment on the A320 family aircraft. The task is already completed in nearly 40% of aircraft and will be carried out in the entire fleet within the timeline prescribed by EASA.

"Air India can confirm that there have been no cancellations due to this task, and there isn't no major impact on schedule integrity across our network. However, some of our flights may be slightly delayed or rescheduled. Our colleagues on ground are there to assist the passengers," noted the airline in its statement.

Air India passengers can check their latest flight status at https://airindia.com/in/en/manage/flight-status.html. Additionally, they can connect with the Air India contact centre at 011-69329333, 011-69329999 before heading to the airport.

A320 Glitch: Modification Completed In More Than Half of the Affected Fleet

As many as 338 A320 family aircraft operated by Indian airlines require the software upgrade to address a potential issue related to flight controls, and modifications have been carried out in more than half of the affected fleet, according to DGCA data. There are no flight cancellations, but there are delays in the range of 60-90 minutes for some flights as the software updates are being carried out for the affected planes, reported PTI citing sources.

On Friday, Airbus said intense solar radiation might corrupt data critical to flight controls in a significant number of A320 family aircraft and that the software changes required to fix the issue would lead to operational disruptions. The software upgrades have been completed for 189 A320 family planes out of the total 338 aircraft, as per the data available with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) till 10 am on November 29. The software upgrades on all the affected planes are to be completed by 5:29 am on November 30.