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The issue affects A320s, the newer A320neo, A319s and A321s, but not Qantas’ new 321XLR.
Yet, it’s the removal of 6000 A320s from global fleets, even for a single day, that will upset the tightly choreographed schedules airlines around the world depend on.
The A320 variants (including A321 and A319) in Asia Pacific alone total 3650, aviation analytics firm Cirium data, says.
That’s a lot of connecting flights.
Planes typically make multiple domestic trips in a single day – and the A320 is primarily a short- and medium-haul plane.
University of Sydney business professor Rico Merkert said the groundings “will have ripple affects”.
Typically, for example, an aircraft that flies from Hobart to Melbourne would then fly to Adelaide and Brisbane “all in the same day”.
“Getting that aircraft back in action will be difficult,” said Merkert.
The airlines will probably lose two days – one for the software upgrade – and another because of the “aircraft out of position”, he said, referring to where it starts its daily route.
The recall is among the largest for Airbus and comes as weeks after the A320 overtook rival Boeing’s 777 as the most-delivered model.
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“Grounding a plane is not something you do lightly,” said Geoffrey Dell, head of aviation safety for the AMDA Foundation.
The issue affecting the A320 came to light when an October 30 JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, Jersey, “experienced a drop in altitude”, forcing it to make an unscheduled stop in Tampa International Airport. The unanticipated plunge of about 30 metres resulted in injuries to 15 passengers.
While commercial flight remains statistically one of the safest methods of travel, the public has been rattled by a series of accidents including the deadly Air India crash in June, which killed 260 people aboard and on the ground.
While the cause of the June crash is unclear and investigations continue, it serves as a reminder that for all the safety built into the system, risks remain.
Subhas Menon, director general at Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, told this masthead: “The Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 are the workhorses of the industry and keep air travel as well as economies running.”
Menon believes that if it is a software update, “it can be accomplished fairly quickly either at home base or in transit”.
With Australia on the cusp of enacting new rules around aviation customer rights, this crisis will also be a test for how the airlines handle customers complaints.
Adam Glezer, from Consumer Champion, said it may prove to be “another great example of where we fall victim to our substandard laws”.
Since the grounding may be seen as out of the airline’s control, European passengers may not be eligible for compensation, UNSW’s Merket said.
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