Swiss has taken the decision to ground all nine of its Airbus A220-100 aircraft for 18 months and use the engines to support its A220-300 fleet. The decision was prompted by ongoing maintenance and supply issues with the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines that power the aircraft. "The ongoing global shortage of Pratt & Whitney engines and spare parts has led to the temporary grounding of several Airbus short-haul aircraft worldwide," says Swiss, adding that "there is currently no sign of the situation easing" and "forecasts suggest that it may further intensify in 2026". The airline says that to "enhance planning reliability", it has decided to "temporarily withdraw all nine of our smaller Airbus A220-100 aircraft from service for approximately 18 months". The 18 PW1500 engines from the -100s will be used as spare engines for the -300 fleet, Swiss confirms. "This process will begin in November and is expected to be completed by summer 2026, with detailed planning currently underway," says Swiss, noting that the measure will not reduce the size of its active fleet because it enables the carrier to bring grounded A220-300s back into service. "These aircraft offer greater capacity and efficiency compared to the A220-100." Four of Swiss's A220-100s are already listed as being in storage, Cirium fleets data shows. Four of the Lufthansa subsidiary's A220-300s are listed as being in storage.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) that temporarily grounds thousands of Airbus A320-family aircraft for implementation of an urgent software change to their elevator aileron computers. The directive, issued on 28 November, puts into force an alert operator transmission which Airbus says was issued after analysis of an in-flight event revealed that "intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls". The AD covers all A319, A320 and A321 aircraft of all serial numbers, and requires the installation of serviceable ELAC B L103+ software while prohibiting the operation of the ELAC B L104 package. Operators of aircraft with the latter must replace or modify the affected ELAC (elevator aileron computer) with the serviceable one before the next flight. An allowance has been made for up to three non-passenger and non-ETOPS flights to position the aircraft for replacement. Fleets data shows that there are over 9,500 A319, A320 and A321 aircraft in service and over 1,300 in storage globally. Airbus says a "significant number of A320-family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted" by the directive. "Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers," the manufacturer adds. "We apologize for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority." The grounding is set to impact major A320-family operators in North America, such as JetBlue Airways, American Airlines and Spirit Airlines, and comes amid the peak Thanksgiving holiday period. Other airlines around the world said on 29 November that they were taking action to comply with the directive. Lufhansa says it has started implementing checks across its A320-family fleet which are set to "take several hours per aircraft" and may result in some delays and cancellations over the weekend. Avianca says more than 70% of its fleet is affected and that it has closed sales for travel up to 8 December. AirAsia's group chief executive Bo Lingam says the carrier is "taking immediate steps to comply with the airworthiness directive and aim to complete the process within the next 48 hours, while ensuring minimal disruption to our guests". Jetstar Airways says in a statement to passengers that "some of our Airbus-operated flights are unable to depart today" and warns that " alternative travel options are extremely limited over the coming days due to high demand across the network".

ANA Group is discontinuing its AirJapan brand to focus on a dual-brand strategy focused on the airline names ANA and Peach. AirJapan was launched as a medium-haul, low-cost subsidiary of ANA in February 2024, serving destinations including Bangkok, Seoul and Singapore from Tokyo Narita. Fleets data shows that AirJapan operates two Boeing 787-8s. It was set to take delivery of a third 787 and boost Tokyo-Singapore frequencies in November. However, its parent company says it has decided to suspend the AirJapan brand and integrate its aircraft and staff into the wider ANA brand, as a response to ongoing aircraft delivery delays and the "aircraft-on-ground situation" affecting ANA's 787s. "To optimize the allocation of the group's resources, ANA Group decided to suspend the AirJapan brand. Its aircraft and human resources will be consolidated into the ANA brand's operations to expand its international business," says ANA. "Furthermore, AirJapan – the operating company that has managed flights for both the ANA and AirJapan brands – will continue to contribute to ANA Group's international business by operating ANA-brand international flights, leveraging its high standard of operational quality." The changes will take place at the end of March 2026.