Overview
- Airbus cut its commercial jet delivery goal for 2025 from roughly 820 to about 790 after a supplier-quality problem disrupted A320-family delivery flow late in the year.
- The company says the metal fuselage panel defect has been traced to a supplier, is contained, and newly produced panels meet all requirements.
- Engineers are inspecting more than 600 potentially affected A320-family aircraft in production and in service, with only some expected to require additional action; panels were supplied by Sofitec Aero, according to La Vanguardia.
- The panel issue surfaced days after Airbus addressed a separate software vulnerability in which intense solar radiation could alter flight-control data on A320-family jets.
- Airbus reports the vast majority of roughly 6,000 affected aircraft have received the software modification, fewer than 100 remain to be updated, and JetBlue says it has resumed normal operations after complying with the FAA directive.