European aerospace giant Airbus on Friday ordered an immediate software change on a significant number of its A320 family of jets following an incident last month.

Airbus said in a statement that a recent incident revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.

The incident that appears to have brought the issue to light involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30, according to Reuters.

That flight made an emergency landing at Tampa, Florida, and several people were taken to hospital after a flight control problem and a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude.

Airbus says action may lead to delays over busy travel weekend

"Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted," the company said.

"Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers," the statement added.

Air France canceled 35 flights on Friday due to a software error and expected further cancellations on Saturday.

Lufthansa expresses optimism

Germany's Lufthansa Group, on the other hand, did not anticipate any major disruptions to its flight operations.

"Most of the software updates were already carried out last night and on Saturday morning," a company spokesperson said on Saturday.

Isolated Lufthansa delays, however, could not be ruled out.

American Airlines told the news agency AFP on Saturday that "the vast majority" of its approximately 340 affected A320 aircraft had already been overhauled and that the necessary updates had led to "a few delays." 

According to its own statements, US competitor United Airlines experienced "minor disruptions on a few flights." 

In Europe, easyJet announced that all of its aircraft had already received the update and that no flight cancellations were necessary. 

The two largest Indian airlines, IndiGo and Air India, expected delays but no cancellations.

However, other companies were significantly more affected. Colombian airline Avianca, for example, expects "significant disruptions over the next ten days" and has suspended ticket sales until December 8 because it must overhaul around 70% of its fleet.

In the Philippines, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific had to cancel more than 40 flights.

Effects could be felt for weeks

The effects could be felt for weeks. Globally, hundreds of jets may need hardware changes, which could take weeks.

The disruption comes as millions of Americans travel by air for the Thanksgiving holiday period.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko