Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said they\u2019ve received confirmation they can resume flying the A320s.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo allow aircraft to get to their destination and minimise disruption, a new update from the European Union Aviation Safety Authority [EASA] has advised that aircraft with this software can continue operating until 12.59pm on November 30, New Zealand time. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that, where possible, we are able to operate A320 services today before commencing the required updates,\u201d said McGraw.<\/p>\n
The software fix may cause future delays.<\/p>\n
An Air New Zealand Airbus A320.<\/p>\n
\u201cAir New Zealand will begin rolling through the updates to its A320 fleet as quickly as possible to minimise ongoing disruptions. It is important for customers to know that this is a precautionary software update and does not present an immediate safety risk to our flights,\u201d said McGraw.<\/p>\n
Travellers across New Zealand and Australia have been impacted so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have cancelled 12 services today and are expecting some further disruption today. Customers travelling today should continue to check the Air NZ app or website for the latest information on their flight,\u201d said McGraw. <\/p>\n
He says Air New Zealand will provide updates on any disruption to its schedule as soon as it has more information. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know unexpected changes are frustrating, and we are working hard to keep customers moving wherever possible,\u201d McGraw said.<\/p>\n
Passengers at departure gates at Auckland Airport await their delayed flights. Photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
Jetstar has also been caught in the chaos, saying safety is its \u201cnumber one priority\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo respond to a precautionary action from Airbus, we have cancelled some Jetstar Airways flights. Our teams are working on options to get customers on their way as quickly as possible and are contacting affected customers directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank customers for their understanding and patience. We will continue to provide updates.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NZ Herald journalist who was scheduled to fly with Jetstar this morning described a \u201cstampede\u201d at Auckland Airport as cancelled flights were rebooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were waiting for flights that had already been delayed because of this global issue. There were no seats available [in the terminal lounge], and people were scattered across the floor.<\/p>\n
Large queues at Auckland Airport after delayed flights and cancellations caused by a global Airbus A320 warning. Photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were hopeful that maybe we\u2019d start boarding soon and then this packed waiting room with two flights, one to Queenstown and one to Christchurch, we just heard over the intercom that both the flights had been cancelled and that everyone had to go downstairs and rebook,\u201d said the traveller.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d managed to get on another flight later this afternoon \u2013 but others hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s hundreds of people waiting now. A lot of people seem quite frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
They said communication between the airline and passengers over the cause of the cancellations had been poor.<\/p>\n
Large queues at Auckland Airport after delayed flights and cancellations caused by a global Airbus A320 warning. Photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
Airbus warned of impending disruption<\/p>\n
Airbus on Friday warned of potential travel disruption as it upgrades some 6000 operational A320 aircraft, after an incident on a JetBlue flight last month.<\/p>\n
The European plane-maker on Friday instructed its clients to take \u201cimmediate precautionary action\u201d after evaluating the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,\u201d Airbus stated, adding that \u201ca significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service\u201d may be affected.<\/p>\n
Replacing the software will take \u201ca few hours\u201d on most planes but for some 1000 aircraft, the process \u201cwill take weeks\u201d, a source close to the issue told AFP.<\/p>\n
The faulty software, the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC), is made by aerospace and defence giant Thales.<\/p>\n
\u201cAirbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,\u201d it said, apologising for the inconvenience.<\/p>\n
On October 30, a JetBlue-operated A320 aircraft encountered an in-flight control issue due to a computer malfunction.<\/p>\n
The plane suddenly nosedived as it travelled between Cancun in Mexico and Newark in the United States, and pilots had to land the plane in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n
US media quoted local firefighters saying some passengers were injured.<\/p>\n
Produced since 1988, the A320 is the best-selling airplane globally, with Airbus selling 12,257 of the aircraft by the end of September compared with the sale of 12,254 Boeing 737s.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Additional reporting Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said they\u2019ve received confirmation they can resume flying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[104654,2840,41110,74,68,6776,17622,1558,3292,23604,12413,104738,25598,16492,28828,6562,1437,76,1304,117,111,43,139,69,2244,8183,81566,1361,102,377,80],"class_list":["post-158795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-a320","tag-across","tag-affected","tag-after","tag-air","tag-airbus","tag-airlines","tag-been","tag-cancellations","tag-causes","tag-chaos","tag-chaotic","tag-cleared","tag-delays","tag-fleet","tag-flights","tag-global","tag-issue","tag-morning","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-resume","tag-software","tag-temporarily","tag-that","tag-with","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}