The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a significant airworthiness directive (AD) targeting the Airbus A320 family, following the discovery of out-of-spec fuselage panels that could compromise the long-term structural integrity of the world’s most popular narrow-body jet.

The directive, published on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, mandates that operators conduct rigorous visual inspections and full panel-thickness measurements. The order comes on the heels of a production quality lapse identified at a key Airbus supplier, Sofitec Aero SL, based in Seville, Spain.

The Scope of the Issue

According to EASA and internal Airbus reports, a total of 628 aircraft are potentially affected by the manufacturing deviation. The breakdown of the fleet impact is as follows:

In-Service Aircraft: Approximately 177 jets are already flying with global carriers and must be inspected within the next six months.

Undelivered Units: Roughly 451 airframes are currently in various stages of production or awaiting delivery at Airbus facilities in Toulouse and Hamburg.

The flaw involves fuselage panels, specifically those located near the front of the aircraft behind the cockpit, that were delivered with "deviations from the specified thickness." In simpler terms, these panels are either too thin to meet stress tolerances or too thick, potentially complicating future structural repairs.

Mandated Actions for Carriers

EASA has classified the situation as a "potentially unsafe condition," particularly for aircraft that have already undergone unrelated structural repairs in the affected areas. The directive outlines a tiered response for airlines:

Immediate Checks: For aircraft that have a history of repairs on these specific panels, inspections must be carried out within 14 days.

General Fleet Review: All other affected aircraft must undergo thickness measurements and visual checks within six months.

Repair Protocol: If panels are found to be out of spec, carriers must contact Airbus for approved repair instructions before the aircraft can continue long-term service.

Impact on Airbus Production

The "panel crisis" has already dealt a blow to Airbus’s 2025 performance. Earlier this month, the air framer was forced to cut its year-end delivery target from 820 to 790 aircraft.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury acknowledged the "bottleneck" created by the discovery, noting that several December handovers were halted to allow for quality assessments. "We have to assess the situation of those aircraft already finished but with a question mark over the panels," Faury told reporters.

A Challenging Month for the A320

The fuselage panel directive marks the second major hurdle for the A320 program in as many weeks. In late November, EASA issued an emergency directive regarding a software glitch in the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC), which was found to be susceptible to data corruption from intense solar radiation.

While the software fix was largely implemented within days, the structural nature of the panel issue presents a more complex logistical challenge for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) teams already stretched thin by global supply chain delays.

Industry Reaction

Airlines have expressed frustration over the timing, which coincides with the busy year-end travel season. Reports suggest that some carriers are now seeking compensation or extended warranty terms from Airbus before taking delivery of new A320neo or A321neo units.

For now, Airbus maintains that the A320 family remains safe to fly, asserting that the inspections are a "conservative and proactive" measure to ensure the airframes reach their full design life without premature fatigue.