LOCAL AIRLINES have finished updating the software on their Airbus aircraft after an urgent advisory from the manufacturer prompted carriers to ground several planes.
“Cebu Pacific is pleased to tell its passengers that it has successfully accomplished the mandatory software update across the affected Airbus A320/A321 aircraft, and normal operations have been restored,” the airline said in an announcement on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Transportation department said 75 aircraft operated by Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines were affected by the required update.
Airbus issued the directive after a technical advisory flagged a possible safety risk across its A320 family — the A318, A319, A320 and A321 models — following a reported malfunction in October.
“Evaluation of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” Airbus said on its website. A “significant number” of A320 Family aircraft in service is perhaps affected, it added.
PAL said all aircraft scheduled for business flights that were covered by the mandatory update have accomplished the upgrade.
“Our technical and engineering teams worked swiftly and meticulously to make sure full compliance inside the prescribed timeframe, prioritizing the very best standards of safety and reliability,” it said in a separate statement.
AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Suresh Bangah said the airline hurried to satisfy Airbus’ requirements. “We wish to guarantee our guests that safety is, and can at all times be, our top priority,” he said in an announcement on Saturday.
The Transportation department said 93 flights were affected by the difficulty — 82 were canceled and 11 delayed — affecting at the least 14,000 passengers. Airlines are offering flexible options, including free rebooking and conversion to travel credits.
“No matter how small the glitch is perhaps, with regards to aviation, it is going to at all times have a substantial impact on passenger perception and confidence,” Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnerships at Libra Konsult, said via Viber.
Air travel continues to recuperate. Passenger volume reached 46.84 million within the nine months through September, up 6.25% from a yr earlier, driven by domestic traffic, the Civil Aeronautics Board reported.
Mr. Villarete said the software update should help strengthen public confidence by ensuring a safer, more reliable avionics system. “We just have to undergo the response and learning curve as we grapple with passengers’ trust and confidence in our systems,” he said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose