Around a dozen of A321 neo planes with IndiGo have been impacted, the sources said while there is no impact on the aircraft in the Air India fleet
New Delhi: Airbus has detected a quality issue with the surface protection coating on the fuselage of a significant number of narrow-body A321 neo planes and around a dozen of such aircraft operated by IndiGo are also impacted, according to sources.
IndiGo and Air India operate A321 neo aircraft. Together, they have around 190 such planes.
An Airbus spokesperson on Friday said during some standard rework a surface protection deviation on stringers located at the lower front section of the fuselage was identified affecting a number of A321 aircraft.
“The source of the issue has been identified, contained and a remedy is available. All newly coated stringers conform to all requirements,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the aircraft can continue to operate and that “this is a quality issue, not a safety issue”.
Around a dozen of A321 neo planes with IndiGo have been impacted, the sources said while there is no impact on the aircraft in the Air India fleet.
The airline has a fleet of over 430 planes, including more than 180 A321 neo aircraft. Air India has around nine A321 neo planes.
There was no official comment from IndiGo and Air India.
The sources said some part of the fuselage has to be repainted and the work has to be completed within two years.
To address the issue, the Airbus spokesperson said the rework does not require any disassembly of the stringers. “Once rework is applied, the aircraft is considered to be back as if at nominal design”.
Airbus said on Thursday it had identified and contained a “quality issue” in the fuselage structure of its A321neo aircraft, but that planes could continue operating because it did not pose a safety risk.
The defect affects about 500 aircraft, including roughly 250 already in service and 250 in production, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The A321neo, Airbus’ largest and most popular single-aisle jet, seats up to 244 passengers and is designed to fly routes of up to 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km). The defect does not impact the planemaker’s longer-range A321XLR, said the source, who could not speak publicly about the private matter.
It is the second industrial problem to affect the fuselage of the industry’s best-selling model in nine months after Airbus reported defects with fuselage panels last December.
Airbus also described that issue as a quality problem with no safety implications, but unravelling the situation caused several months of delivery delays.
Airbus said it had discovered what it described as a “deviation” in the surface protection, or coating, applied to skeletal components known as stringers that run lengthways in a fuselage. It said the discovery was made while parts were already undergoing rework on the production line.
Airbus has identified and contained the source of the issue and a remedy is available, it added.
The latest snag comes as Airbus is trying to increase production of narrow-body jets to 75 a month from about 60 now.
The source said Airbus first spotted the problem over the summer and the first results from closer analysis came back recently.
This part of the plane is made by Airbus’ in-house aerostructures unit Stelia, which was not immediately available for comment outside of business hours.
Customers are continuing to take aircraft deliveries without insisting on extra work being carried out in advance and Airbus has told customers there is no immediate requirement to repair, the source said.
European regulators may, however, issue a directive requiring the defects to be repaired within a certain period. US carrier Delta Air Lines, which operates A321neo planes, said it was continually in contact with manufacturers and would “always take action to meet or exceed operator recommendations and regulator directives.”
Industry publication the Air Current first reported the issue on Thursday.