Airbus issues major A320 recall, threatening global flight disruption
空客发布重大 A320 召回令，或引发全球航班中断
PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus (AIR.PA), said on Friday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States and disruption worldwide.
路透社巴黎 11 月 28 日电 – 欧洲空中客车公司(AIR.PA)周五表示，正对其广泛使用的 6000 架 A320 系列飞机下令立即检修。此次大规模召回涉及全球半数以上现役机型，可能在美国年度最繁忙出行周末引发运营混乱，并造成全球范围航班中断。
The setback appears to be among the largest recalls affecting Airbus in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model. At the time Airbus issued its bulletin to the plane’s more than 350 operators, some 3,000 A320-family jets were in the air.
这似乎是空客 55 年历史上规模最大的召回事件之一。几周前，A320 刚超越波音 737 成为交付量最高的机型。当空客向全球 350 多家运营商发布公告时，约有 3000 架 A320 系列飞机正在执飞。
The fix mainly involves reverting to earlier software and is relatively simple, but must be carried out before the planes can fly again, other than repositioning to repair centres, according to the bulletin to airlines seen by Reuters.
路透社看到的航空公司公告显示，除需调机至维修中心的情况外，修复措施主要涉及回退至早期软件版本且相对简单，但必须在飞机复飞前完成。
Airlines from the United States to South America, Europe, India and New Zealand warned the repairs could potentially cause flight delays or cancellations.
从美国到南美、欧洲、印度及新西兰的多家航空公司警告称，此次维修可能导致航班延误或取消。
The world’s largest A320 operator, American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab, said some 340 of its 480 A320 aircraft would need the fix. It said it mostly expected these to be completed by Saturday with about two hours required for each plane.
全球最大 A320 运营商美国航空(AAL.O)表示，其 480 架 A320 客机中约有 340 架需要修复，预计绝大部分可在周六前完成，每架飞机约需两小时维修时间。
Other airlines said they would take planes briefly out of service to do the repairs, including Germany’s Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), opens new tab, India’s IndiGo and UK-based easyJet (EZJ.L), opens new tab.
德国汉莎航空(LHAG.DE)、印度靛蓝航空及英国易捷航空(EZJ.L)等航司表示将短暂停飞部分飞机进行维修。
Colombian carrier Avianca said the recall affected more than 70% of its fleet, prompting it to close ticket sales for travel dates through December 8.
哥伦比亚航空阿维安卡表示，此次召回影响其超70%的机队，已暂停12月8日前出发航班的机票销售。
There are around 11,300 A320-family jets in operation, including 6,440 of the core A320 model, which first flew in 1987. Four of the world’s 10 biggest A320-family operators are major U.S. airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines , JetBlue
(JBLU.O), opens new tab and United Airlines. Chinese, European and Indian carriers are also among the jet’s biggest customers.
目前全球约有 11,300 架 A320 系列客机正在运营，其中包括 6,440 架 1987 年首飞的核心机型 A320。全球十大 A320 系列运营商中，有四家是美国主要航空公司：美国航空、达美航空(DAL.N)、捷蓝航空(JBLU.O)和美联航。中国、欧洲和印度的航空公司也是该机型的主要客户。
For about two-thirds of the affected jets, the recall will result in a brief grounding as airlines revert to a previous software version, industry sources said.
据业内消息人士透露，约三分之二的受影响客机将因召回而短暂停飞，航空公司需将软件版本回退至先前状态。
Still, that comes at a time when airline repair shops are already overrun by maintenance work, as hundreds of Airbus jets have been grounded due to long waiting times for separate engine repairs or inspections. The industry also has labour shortages.
但当前航空维修车间本就因大量空客客机停飞而不堪重负——这些飞机因发动机检修或检测排队时间过长而滞留。航空业还面临着劳动力短缺的问题。
“The timing is definitely not ideal for an issue like this to arise on one of the most ubiquitous aircraft around the (U.S.) holidays,” Mike Stengel of AeroDynamic Advisory said.
AeroDynamic Advisory 咨询公司的迈克·斯滕格尔表示：”在美国假日期间，全球保有量最高的机型出现此类问题，时机确实非常不理想。”
But due to the quick repair time, many jets can be fixed between scheduled flights or during overnight checks, he added.
不过他补充说，由于修复时间短，多数客机可在定期航班间隙或夜间检修时完成维修。
Britain’s easyJet said it had already completed the work.
英国易捷航空表示已完成相关工作。
A senior airline industry source, however, said sequencing the repairs at a time when demand is high and fleets are already facing maintenance delays was expected to be a major challenge.
然而，一位航空业资深消息人士指出，在当前需求旺盛且机队已面临维修延误的情况下，协调维修顺序预计将成为重大挑战。
Aviation analyst Rob Morris said there were questions over how much hangar capacity would immediately be available.
航空业分析师罗伯·莫里斯表示，目前尚不清楚能立即投入使用的机库容量究竟有多少。
JETBLUE INCIDENT LEADS TO PROBE
捷蓝航空事件引发调查
Airbus said a recent incident had revealed that solar flares may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
空客公司表示，近期一起事件表明太阳耀斑可能损坏飞行控制系统运行的关键数据。
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.
业内消息人士称，引发此次意外检修行动的事件涉及 10 月 30 日从墨西哥坎昆飞往新泽西州纽瓦克的捷蓝航空航班，该航班因急剧失压导致多名乘客受伤。
That A320 jet made an emergency landing at Tampa, Florida, after a flight control problem and a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude, prompting a Federal Aviation Administration investigation. JetBlue and the FAA had no comment on the recall.
这架 A320 客机因飞行控制问题及突发非指令性高度骤降，最终在佛罗里达州坦帕市紧急迫降，美国联邦航空管理局已就此展开调查。针对此次召回事件，捷蓝航空与美国联邦航空管理局均未予置评。
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency late on Friday issued an emergency directive making the fix mandatory.
欧盟航空安全局于上周五晚间发布紧急指令，强制要求实施相关修复措施。
‘TWO HOUR REPAIR’ 两小时修复方案
An Airbus spokesperson estimated the repairs would affect 6,000 jets in total, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
空客发言人估计此次维修将总计影响6000架飞机，这证实了路透社早前的报道。
The temporary groundings for repairs for some airlines could be much longer since more than 1,000 of the affected jets may also have to have hardware changed, industry sources said.
业内消息人士称，由于超过1000架受影响飞机可能还需更换硬件部件，部分航空公司的临时停飞维修期或将大幅延长。
The abrupt recall sent ripples around the world.
这起突发召回事件在全球引发连锁反应。
A Finnair (FIA1S.HE), flight was delayed almost an hour as pilots established which software version they had, a passenger said. Air New Zealand warned of a number of cancellations.
有乘客表示，芬兰航空一架航班因机组核查软件版本延误近一小时。新西兰航空则预警将出现多趟航班取消。
Air France (AIRF.PA), said it was cancelling 35 flights, 5% of the airline’s daily total. Mexico’s Volaris said it would be hit by delays or cancellations for up to 72 hours.
法国航空宣布取消35个航班，约占其每日航班总量的5%。墨西哥沃尔拉里斯航空表示未来72小时内将面临航班延误或取消。
Launched in 1984, the A320 was the first mainstream jetliner to introduce “fly-by-wire” computer controls.
于 1984 年推出的 A320 是首款引入”电传飞控”计算机系统的主流喷气式客机。
It competes with the Boeing (BA.N), 737 MAX, which suffered a lengthy worldwide grounding after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, blamed on poorly designed flight-control software.
该机型与波音(BA.N)737 MAX 形成竞争，后者因 2018 和 2019 年致命空难中暴露的飞行控制软件设计缺陷，曾遭遇全球范围长期停飞。
Demand for the two main brands of workhorse jets has surged in recent years as economic growth led by Asia brought tens of millions of new travellers into the skies.
近年来，随着亚洲引领的经济增长使数千万新乘客加入航空出行，这两大主力机型的需求出现激增。
Originally designed to serve hubs, the single-aisle models were later widely adopted by low-cost carriers. The connections they provide now represent a significant slice of the economy.
最初为枢纽机场设计的单通道客机后来被低成本航空公司广泛采用。它们提供的航线连接如今已成为经济的重要组成部分。
The Airbus bulletin seen by Reuters traced the problem to a flight system called ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer), which sends commands from the pilot’s side-stick to elevators at the rear. These in turn control the aircraft’s pitch or nose angle.
路透社看到的空客公告将问题追溯到名为 ELAC（升降舵和副翼计算机）的飞行系统，该系统将指令从飞行员的侧杆传送到尾部的升降舵。这些升降舵进而控制飞机的俯仰角或机头角度。
The computer’s manufacturer, France’s Thales (TCFP.PA), said in response to a Reuters query that the computer complies with Airbus specifications and the functionality in question is supported by software that is not under Thales’ responsibility.
计算机制造商法国泰雷兹(TCFP.PA)在回应路透社询问时表示，该计算机符合空客规格，相关功能由非泰雷兹负责的软件支持。
A software update recommended by Airbus is forcing some of the world’s largest airlines to park hundreds of jets to make the change.
空客推荐的软件更新正迫使全球部分大型航空公司停飞数百架喷气式客机以进行修改。