American Airlines, the major flight provider at Charlotte’s airport, expects delays due to software updates on more than 300 planes, the company said Friday.
Airbus, the European manufacturer of the airline’s A320 planes, applied the improvements after finding a problem that affected operators worldwide. In a statement, Airbus stated that a recent incident involving an A320 aircraft revealed “intense solar radiation” that could destroy data crucial to flight controls.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is American Airlines’ second-largest hub. After being notified of the issue, the business stated that it took immediate measures to resolve the software issue impacting 340 aircraft.
The airline anticipates that the majority of changes will be performed on Friday and Saturday. Delays may arise during the process, which takes approximately two hours per aircraft to complete.
American has around 480 A320 planes, leaving 140 unaffected by the software issue.
“Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations — especially with customers returning home from holiday travel,” the airline said in a statement. “However, our top priority will always be the safety of our operations. It’s all hands on deck at our airline to resolve the Airbus software issue and assist any passengers whose flights are affected.”
American did not disclose any additional information on operations at CLT, the world’s sixth busiest airport. According to FlightAware, a service that provides real-time flight information, there were over 140 aircraft delays at Charlotte Douglas about 3:45 p.m. on Friday.
The corporation also stated that the problem was discovered following an incident with another airline’s aircraft. According to an assessment of safety data, there are no indications of similar difficulties with American Airlines’ Airbus A320 jets.
More about CLT and American Airlines.
American operates thousands of daily flights to over 350 locations in 60 countries. CLT serves over 170 destinations in 27 countries via the airline’s global network. It accounts for around 90% of all flights from the airport.
CLT had 596,583 flights last year, up 11% from 2023, when it was ranked eighth internationally. Charlotte Douglas expects roughly 2 million passengers between Thursday, November 20 and Tuesday.
