Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed on Saturday that its fleet of A320 aircraft was not affected as global airlines scrambled to fix a software issue that forced Airbus to recall more than 6,000 A320 family aircraft worldwide.
“PIA has confirmed that its entire A320 fleet is not affected by this Airbus alert. PIA’s Engineering and Maintenance department is closely monitoring the airworthiness of its fleet, ensuring safe operations,” an airline spokesperson said.
The recall covers more than half of the A320 fleet in service and has temporarily grounded planes in Asia and Europe and threatens to disrupt travel in the United States during one of the busiest weekends of the year.
The recall, one of the largest in Airbus’ 55-year history, comes weeks after the A320 overtook Boeing’s 737 as the world’s most delivered commercial airliner model.
Airlines have been working through the night to implement solutions after Airbus issued the emergency alert to 350 operators worldwide. Regulators on all continents required airlines to fix the software problem before returning affected planes to service.
Early reports suggest the emergency recall averted the worst-case scenario, limiting flight delays in Asia and Europe on Saturday. However, the United States is expected to see increased travel demand later in the day following the Thanksgiving holiday period.
“It’s not as chaotic as some people might think,” said Asia-based aviation analyst Brendan Sobie. “Airlines have always been prepared for various potential disruptions, but this creates some short-term headaches for operations.”
Industry sources said emergency repairs may be less intensive than initially feared, and that fewer aircraft are likely to require hardware changes rather than a software fix.
However, executives noted that the sudden withdrawal presents a rare and potentially costly challenge, particularly at a time when global maintenance operations are strained by labor and parts shortages.
