American Airlines passengers may face delays in Charlotte amid software updates

American Airlines, the largest provider of flights at Charlotte’s airport, is expecting delays because of software updates on more than 300 aircraft, the company said on Friday.

Airbus, the European maker of the airline’s A320 jets, implemented the changes after identifying an issue impacting operators worldwide. In a statement, Airbus said a recent event involving an A320 aircraft showed “intense solar radiation” that may corrupt data critical for flight controls.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the second-largest hub for American. After being notified about the concern, the company said it took swift action to address the software issue affecting 340 aircraft.

The airline expects the majority of updates to be completed Friday and Saturday. Delays may occur through the process, which takes about two hours per aircraft to complete.

American has about 480 A320 aircraft, which leaves 140 unaffected by the software issue.

“Though we expect some delays as we accomplish these updates, we are intently focused on limiting cancellations — especially with customers returning home from holiday travel,” American said in a statement. “Still, our overriding priority will always be the safety of our operation. It’s all hands on deck across our airline to address this Airbus software issue and take care of any customers whose flights are affected.”

American did not provide additional information about operations at CLT, the world’s sixth-busiest airport. Around 3:45 p.m. Friday, Charlotte Douglas had more than 140 flight delays, according to data on FlightAware, a website providing real-time flight information.

The company also said the issue was identified following an event with another airline’s aircraft. And based on safety data review, there are no indication of similar problems with American’s Airbus A320 jets.

More on CLT and American Airlines

American offers thousands of daily flights to more than 350 destinations in over 60 countries. The airline provides flights to more than 170 destinations in 27 countries worldwide at CLT through its global network. It accounts for about 90% of all flights out of the airport.

CLT had 596,583 flights last year — an 11% increase from 2023, when it was ranked seventh internationally. For the Thanksgiving travel period, Charlotte Douglas is expecting nearly 2 million passengers expected between Thursday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday.