Airbus has discovered a second problem with its best-selling A320 aircraft, just days after a software glitch forced the grounding of thousands of planes.
The French company, which makes its wings in Britain, said it had identified a “quality issue” with metal fuselage panels on a limited number of A320 aircraft.
It said it would inspect all potentially affected aircraft in the hope that only some will require further action.
“The source of the problem has been identified, contained and all newly produced panels meet all requirements,” Airbus said.
A spokesperson said the issue was about quality control rather than safety.
He said that while airlines would be asked to inspect their planes as soon as possible, no airworthiness directives were expected to be issued by regulators – meaning the planes could continue flying.
However, shares of the Tolouse-based company fell almost 10 percent in Paris on concerns that the company may be exposed to wider quality control issues.
The warning came just four days after Airbus said 6,000 A320 series planes had been found vulnerable to solar radiation bursts following a software upgrade.
That directive, the largest in Airbus history, had dozens of airlines working this weekend to make their planes safe. Most jets were repaired by reverting to the original software, although about 900 required more extensive work.
It comes as Airbus and Boeing begin to boost monthly production figures after years of supply chain bottlenecks due to Covid.
Boeing was forced to temporarily ground its 737 Max model – the A320’s main competitor – last year after a panel blew out of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane at 55,000 feet.
An investigation revealed that the door plug had been installed incorrectly, with a broader investigation revealing a litany of quality control problems at both Boeing and its suppliers.
The 737, Boeing’s bestseller, was previously grounded for almost two years after two fatal crashes caused by the use of software poorly understood by pilots that caused planes to make uncontrolled dives.
It was the turmoil surrounding the 737 that saw the A320 take the crown as the world’s best-selling commercial airliner of all time earlier this year.
Airbus’s own production and supply problems will add to the challenges the European manufacturer faces in meeting an ambitious year-end delivery target of 820 aircraft.
The spokesperson declined to say whether there had been an impact on target, a key metric in determining how profitable the company will be this year.
Airbus was already struggling to meet its delivery target due to ongoing supply chain constraints, including a lack of Pratt & Whitney engines for the A320.
