Al Root
Airbus stock was down in Monday trading, as the jet maker worked to fix flight controls on thousands of jets that could be impacted by solar radiation.
Shares of the European jet maker were down 9.9% in overseas trading on Monday. Shares of rival Boeing were up 0.6%. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.
On Friday, Airbus announced a "precautionary fleet action" for affected A320-family jets, which was accompanied by a safety warning from European aviation regulators.
Some 6,000 jets were affected. There are more than 11,000 A319, A320, and A321 model jets in operation worldwide, according to Airbus.
On Oct. 30, JetBlue flight 1230 "experienced an uncommanded and limited pitch down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude, and the rest of the flight was uneventful," reads the emergency airworthiness directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or ESAS. "Preliminary technical assessment done by Airbus identified a malfunction of the affected ELAC as possible contributing factor."
ELAC is short for Elevator Aileron Computer. The affected ELACs were to be replaced or modified before their next flight, following the directive.
"Analysis 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 Friday.
On Monday, Airbus added that out of about 6,000 aircraft potentially impacted, the vast majority have received the necessary modifications.
Less than 100 planes remain to be modified. Despite the limited impact on service, investors have reacted to the news nervously. They appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach.
Coming into Monday trading, Airbus stock was up 19% year to date and up 25% over the past 12 months. Higher demand for commercial jets has boosted investor sentiment. The biggest challenge for Airbus, before this recent problem, was building enough jets.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 01, 2025 08:11 ET (13:11 GMT)
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