Airbus is inspecting “several dozen” A320-family jets after identifying an industrial quality issue on metal fuselage panels found during production checks. The company says the problem appears contained, with no indication it affects aircraft already in service. Still, some near-term deliveries are being delayed while inspections and any rework are completed.
The panel issue surfaced just days after Airbus released a separate software fix for roughly 6,000 A320-family aircraft, leaving fewer than 100 still awaiting the update. Airlines report operations are largely back to normal following the patch.
Airbus has not named the supplier or specified how many aircraft require remedial work, but stressed that new production panels meet spec and that the issue is limited to a small subset of frames. Shares fell on the reports as investors assessed the risk to year-end output.
Airbus delivered 72 aircraft in November, bringing the 2025 total to ~657. Hitting its full-year goal (widely cited near ~820 deliveries) would already require an exceptionally heavy December; any quality-check holds would further tighten the schedule.
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