A large number of Airbus A320 planes around the world had to be updated recently. This was because engineers found a problem caused by radiation from the sun. This cosmic radiation could affect the planes' computers. It could cause the computers to show the wrong altitude, which is very dangerous for flying.
The problem was discovered after a JetBlue flight had to make an emergency landing last October. After this event, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told airlines they must fix the problem. This directive affected about 6,000 planes, including models like the A320 and A321. Airlines such as Air France and American Airlines had to work quickly.
There were two ways to fix the planes. For most of them, over 5,100 aircraft, engineers installed a new software patch. This took about three hours for each plane. However, for nearly 900 older planes, the solution was more difficult. They needed to have their entire computer systems replaced. This took much longer and required special parts.
The updates caused some travel problems. At big airports like London Heathrow, many airlines avoided major delays. But other airlines, including Air France and EasyJet, had to cancel or delay some flights. In the United States, this happened during the busy Thanksgiving travel period.
Airbus said sorry for the delays. However, officials reported that the update process went well for most aircraft. They said that this quick action shows how seriously the aviation industry takes passenger safety.