Airbus-mandated software changes have been carried out on over half of Indian airlines’ aircraft that could have been at risk of potential issues with the functioning of flight controls, according to the country’s aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The software changes, while having some bearing on the carriers’ flight operations in the form of delays and rescheduling, have not led to any major impact in terms of cancellations.
IndiGo and the Air India group are the major Indian operators of A320 family aircraft — A320, A319, and A321 — which form the bulk of India’s narrow-body aircraft fleet.
As per data shared by the DGCA, a total of 338 Airbus A320 family aircraft of Indian airlines — IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express — were identified as planes that required rectification action prescribed by Airbus late Friday. The required action, which typically takes around two hours, has been completed on 189 of those aircraft as of 10 am Saturday. According to the DGCA, the required rectification action should be completed on the remaining aircraft by around 5:30 am Sunday. Officials said that there was no need for passengers to panic as the impact on flight operations is not significant.
At Air India, safety is top priority. Following EASA and Airbus directives for a mandatory software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide, our engineers have been working round-the-clock to complete the task at the earliest. We have already completed…
— Air India (@airindia) November 29, 2025
As of 10 am Saturday, the necessary changes had already been carried out on 143 of 200 IndiGo aircraft that required rectification action. In the case of Air India, it was done on 42 of the 113 affected aircraft. As for Air India Express, the required changes were made on four of the 25 affected planes. In all, IndiGo has around 370 A320 family jets in its fleet, Air India has 127, and its low-cost arm Air India Express operates 40 A320 family aircraft. But not all aircraft required software changes or any hardware realignment. As per the DGCA, no flight cancellations were reported by airlines as of 10 am due to the issue.
European aerospace major Airbus on Friday said that a large number of its best-selling narrow-body A320 family aircraft will require an immediate software change, with some requiring hardware tweaks as well. The urgent rectification action, required to be taken before the next scheduled flight of each affected aircraft, was mandated for thousands of jets globally and over 300 in India. It was prescribed after Airbus learnt that intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to flight controls. There are over 11,000 A320 family aircraft in operation globally, and over half of those might be affected by the issue.
Shortly after the announcement from Airbus, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) requiring operators of the affected A320 family jets to implement the solutions prescribed by Airbus “before next flight”. The DGCA also issued a mandatory modification circular for Indian airlines to carry out the required changes.
“An Airbus A320 aeroplane recently experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful. Preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected ELAC (elevator aileron computer) as possible contributing factor. This condition, if not corrected, could lead in the worst-case scenario to an uncommanded elevator movement that may result in exceeding the aircraft’s structural capability,” the EASA AD said.
ELAC is a flight control computer that processes pilot input to control the aircraft’s elevators and ailerons, which control the pitch and roll of the aircraft.
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For IndiGo, the base stations where software upgrade is being undertaken include Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. Air India is carrying out the changes at Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai, while Air India Express is doing it at Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. While the groundings needed for the changes are brief, they can lead to cascading delays as narrow-body jet typically operates multiple flights in a day.
“At Air India, safety is top priority. Following EASA and Airbus directives for a mandatory software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide, our engineers have been working round-the-clock to complete the task at the earliest. We have already completed the reset on over 40% of our aircraft that are impacted by this, and are confident of covering the entire fleet within the timeline prescribed by EASA,” Air India posted on social media platform X on Saturday morning.
“Air India can confirm that there have been no cancellations due to this task and there isn’t any 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,” the airline added.
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Our diligent and hardworking engineering teams have already completed the mandatory Airbus safety update on 160 out of 200 AIB mandated A320-family aircraft, ensuring our fleet…
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) November 29, 2025
In a statement, an IndiGo spokesperson said: “We are aware of a notification issued by Airbus, the manufacturer of the majority of our fleet, pertaining to the A320-family. We are working closely with Airbus to ensure implementation as per Airbus notification. While we carry out the necessary inspections, we are making every effort to minimise disruptions. We regret any inconvenience this unforeseen situation may cause to our customers and appreciate their understanding. IndiGo is committed to the safety of its customers and staff, and treats safety as its topmost priority.”
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