PIA's A320 fleet unscathed amid global Airbus recall

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) confirmed on Saturday that its A320 aircraft fleet remained unaffected as global airlines rushed to fix a software glitch that forced Airbus to recall over 6,000 A320-family jets 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 their fleet's airworthiness, ensuring safe operations," said a spokesperson for the airline.

The recall covers more than half of the A320 fleet in service and has temporarily grounded planes across Asia and Europe and threatened to disrupt travel in the United States during one of the busiest weekends of the year.

The recall, one of the broadest in Airbus' 55-year history, comes weeks after the A320 surpassed Boeing's 737 as the most-delivered commercial aircraft model globally.

Airlines have been working through the night to implement fixes after Airbus issued the emergency alert to 350 operators worldwide. Regulators across continents required carriers to remedy the software issue before returning the affected jets to service.

Early reports suggest the emergency recall prevented the worst-case scenario, limiting flight delays in Asia and Europe on Saturday. However, the US is expected to experience heightened 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 were always prepared for various potential disruptions. But it does create some short-term headaches for operations."

Industry sources said that emergency repairs may be less intensive than initially feared, with fewer aircraft likely requiring hardware changes instead of a software fix.

However, executives noted that the sudden recall presents a rare and potentially costly challenge, particularly at a time when global maintenance operations are strained by labour and parts shortages.