Israeli airlines mostly unaffected as Airbus grounds 6,000 jets for software update
Israeli airlines were largely unaffected by Airbus’s emergency software recall, which it ordered Friday for thousands of its best-selling A320 passenger jets in a move that temporarily grounded some 6,000 planes, disrupting flights globally.
The European aviation manufacturer said the move would affect a “significant number” of A320 models, and a bulletin sent out by the company to airlines said the update had to be carried out before the next routine flight.
Airbus said in a statement that an October recent incident involving an A320-family aircraft had revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
Industry sources said the incident that triggered the unexpected repair action involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30, in which several passengers were hurt following a sharp loss of altitude.
Arkia and Israir, Israel’s two budget airlines, both operate Airbus jets, though between them, only one plane had........





















Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Sabine Sterk
Stefano Lusa
Tarik Cyril Amar
John Nosta
Ellen Ginsberg Simon
Gilles Touboul
Mark Travers Ph.d
Daniel Orenstein