Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed on Saturday that its fleet of A320 aircraft was unaffected as global airlines raced to fix a software glitch 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 closely monitors 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 threatened to disrupt U.S. travel 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 aircraft model.
Airlines worked through the night to implement fixes after Airbus issued the emergency alert to 350 operators worldwide. Regulators on all continents have asked carriers to fix the software problem before returning affected planes to service.
Early reports suggest the emergency recall helped avert 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.
“It’s not as chaotic as some might think,” said Brendan Sobie, an Asia-based aviation analyst. “Airlines have always been prepared for various potential disruptions. But this creates short-term headaches for operations.”
Industry sources said emergency repairs could be less intensive than initially feared, with fewer planes likely requiring hardware modifications instead of a software fix.
However, executives noted that the sudden recall represents a rare and potentially costly challenge, particularly at a time when global maintenance operations are strained by labor and parts shortages.
