A quality problem was confirmed by Airbus on Monday, specifically highlighting that it faced an issue with metal panels manufactured by one of its subcontractors for the Airbus A320 aircraft, with the manufacturer emphasizing that the incident has been “identified” and “contained.” Earlier, the company announced that fewer than 100 Airbus A320s remain grounded due to solar radiation-vulnerable software out of the 6,000 aircraft affected by the related directive.
Airbus is “currently inspecting all potentially affected aircraft, while recognizing that only some will require further action,” a spokesperson for the European aerospace giant told the French Press Agency.
What Reuters revealed about Airbus and the new quality problem affecting dozens of A320 aircraft
According to the latest developments, as reported by Reuters, Airbus discovered an industrial quality problem affecting fuselage panels of several dozen aircraft in the A320 family, industry sources noted.
The potential manufacturing defect is delaying certain deliveries, but there are no immediate indications that it has affected aircraft currently in service, sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity. Airbus did not comment, while the origin of the problem could not be immediately determined.
Airbus: The target for this year’s deliveries
A person with direct knowledge of the matter said that certain deliveries have already been affected, but there was no immediate confirmation of their number or the duration of the impact.
Industry sources reported that the aircraft manufacturer delivered 72 aircraft in November, fewer than many analysts had predicted, with the total number for the year so far reaching 657.
The target for the year is “around 820” deliveries, which means it would need to achieve a record with more than 160 aircraft deliveries in December.
The record for the final month of the year was 138 in 2019.
