Airbus is racing to contain a widening industrial quality issue affecting fuselage panels on its A320-family aircraft. The problem has already forced the planemaker to lower its 2025 delivery target from around 820 aircraft to roughly 790, marking the most significant disruption to its narrow-body programme in several years.
The flaw, first reported by Reuters in early December, affects A320-family aircraft across multiple stages of production and service, and comes just days after the company carried out a global software recall on the same aircraft family. Although the two issues are unrelated, their timing has created a rare dual challenge for Airbus at a moment when the company is pushing for record output.
What Airbus Found
According to internal briefings shared with airlines and reporting from Reuters, Airbus has identified fuselage-panel quality problems linked to components supplied by Sofitec Aero SL. The issue affects both front and rear fuselage sections and goes beyond the limited scope initially assumed.
Airbus has described the matter as a “supplier quality issue” that has been “identified and contained” in ongoing production. However, the scale of the review is significant, as reported by Reuters:
- 628 aircraft have been flagged for inspection, including
- 168 already in commercial service
- 245 on assembly lines, of which around 100 were due for delivery this year
- 215 in Major Component Assembly
- Inspections may take hours, but repairs can take 3–5 weeks per aircraft, potentially affecting sequence positions and handover timing
- Both delivered and undelivered jets are affected, increasing operational complexity for airlines
This follows a software-related recall affecting around 6,000 A320-family jets, making this the largest combined intervention on the programme in years.
Impact on Deliveries
Bloomberg reports that Airbus has formally revised its 2025 delivery target to about 790 aircraft, down from the earlier guidance of roughly 820. The company cited a “recent supplier quality issue on fuselage panels impacting its A320-family delivery flow,” signalling that the problem has moved beyond routine rework and is now affecting broader production commitments.
With the number of potentially affected aircraft now stretching across in-service fleets, assembly lines and major component plants, the timing of the issue could hardly be more challenging for Airbus — and the strain becomes even clearer when viewed against its 2025 production trajectory.
Why the Issue Landed at the Worst Possible Moment
Airbus has delivered 585 aircraft so far in 2025, and the A320 family represents the overwhelming bulk of that volume. The A319, A320 and A321 together account for about 78% of all Airbus deliveries, making the family the backbone of the company’s commercial output.
The stacked-bar chart shows how consistently dominant the A320-family share has been each month — and how the narrow-body line is carrying most of Airbus’s delivery load. With production running close to full capacity, even small disruptions can cascade quickly.
The chart also illustrates a clear month-by-month ramp-up in total deliveries through the year. Output climbs steadily from January and peaks in October, just as the fuselage-panel issue emerged. This acceleration leaves the system with very little flexibility: any aircraft pulled aside for inspection or rework immediately affects handover slots, production sequencing and downstream airline operations.
This combination, a programme that represents the majority of Airbus’s deliveries, and a production line already running near its limits, is what makes the timing of the panel-quality problem particularly damaging.
Airbus Monthly Deliveries (All Aircraft – 2025 YTD)
The chart shows how the A320 family dominates Airbus’s delivery mix and how total output accelerated through 2025, reaching its highest point just as the fuselage-panel issue surfaced.
The coming weeks will determine the true scale of the disruption. Airbus must complete hundreds of inspections, stabilise its supply chain and deliver enough aircraft in December to meet its revised target. What is already clear is that the fuselage-panel flaw landed at the most difficult moment possible, colliding with a record production ramp and a programme that underpins nearly four-fifths of the company’s commercial output. Restoring rhythm to the A320-family line will be Airbus’s central priority, and the industry will be watching closely for signs of whether this turbulence proves temporary, or points to deeper strain in the world’s most important narrow-body programme.
Also read:
EASA Issues Emergency Directive for A320 Fleet, Calls for Action Before Next Flight
The JetBlue A320 Mid-Air Flight Control Issue: What We Know So Far
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