Virgin has checked 19 aircraft in its fleet that were above the 22,600 flight threshold, and six additional jets that had above 18,000 flights, leaving 50 aircraft that have not been inspected.
Qantas has inspected 33 aircraft above 22,600 flight cycles, leaving 42 which have not been inspected. Qantas said it does not have any planes that have operated between 18,000 and 22,600 flights.
So it would appear that Qantas and Virgin are in lock-step with each other in having inspected all airframes above 18,000 cycles. Not disagreeing with Mr Purvinas’s call for broader scope to the inspections, it is well justified on the evidence. However it is hard to see the validity of comments like this when both airlines have inspected all their aircraft with over 18,000 cycles;
Virgin are ahead of the game and were so some weeks ago.