A320 Temporary Freighter

[wheels_down]

Great innovation from Scooter. Considering the freight demand across this country it’s a no brainer for the Star. Good for maintaining some form of crew currency when passenger operations pickup.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/711x474/c9477781_8b00_4256_9793_4654d69e709c_780cc168eb2fdb9eb06b251 91a7cbbfab4d46d6e.jpeg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/696x464/58dcf720_b69d_4e2d_8a06_0ab34df00793_cb9039e1c5333057c602799 a5324b945a5f9764b.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/696x464/1b9e3b62_e410_48c7_84b2_41d2a170629d_fc87619ffb032fae88e040f b01f37f25551d4136.jpeg


https://www.cargonewswire.com/scoot-modifies-a320-aircraft-to-boost-cargo-capacity-and-capabilities/

[Wizofoz]

There's no particular shortage of domestic freight capacity at the moment.

[Transition Layer]

Why do they need a hostie for freight? :confused:

[Near Miss]

Why do they need a hostie for freight? :confused:

Because there is no smoke detection or fire fighting system in the cabin. Toilet doors open help with the smoke detention, but it is better to have a crew member walk up and down the cabin checking.

[Transition Layer]

Because there is no smoke detection or fire fighting system in the cabin. Toilet doors open help with the smoke detention, but it is better to have a crew member walk up and down the cabin checking.
Fair enough, that makes sense :ok:

[brokenagain]

Why do they need a hostie for freight?

Because coffee doesn’t make itself. :E

[601]

Because coffee doesn’t make itself
I thought that the Flight Engineer did that:ok:

[atr-drivr]

I thought that the Flight Engineer did that:ok:

Naw, Nav.:)

[lucille]

Because there is no smoke detection or fire fighting system in the cabin. Toilet doors open help with the smoke detention, but it is better to have a crew member walk up and down the cabin checking.

OK. But why is she indicating the location of the emergency exits to the cargo? Will she run a cargo safety brief and demonstration as they taxi out? 😜

[Sue Ridgepipe]

That must be rather labour intensive to load and unload.

[tdracer]

Old news - this has been going on for months with various aircraft:
https://www.pprune.org/tech-log/631025-using-737-passenger-aircraft-cargo.html?highlight=Freighter#post10731824

That must be rather labour intensive to load and unload.
Yep - even with seats removed everything has to go through the loading door, so loaded pallets are out.

[Car RAMROD]

There is probably no shortage of available manpower to do the loading/unloading though...

Belt loader up to the doorway, human chain passing the boxes along.

probably not as difficult as many imagine.

[icemanalgeria]

That must be rather labour intensive to load and unload.
takes only two hours to load our 787-9 with 27,000kg of masks. The Chinese have it organised :)

[Global Aviator]

What it is is impressive, shows a proactive company. Out there chasing work, I would imagine it will get lots of work from SQ cargo. Why this could not done at the height of the pandemic when demand was huge is a mystery.

Hand loading in SE Asia is certainly no problem. I could see it causing issues in the western world.

Good luck to em! Saw the QF 321P2F the other day.

[ACMS]

Done by the book it requires considerable paperwork and effort to arrange along with all the correct STC’s from Airbus and Boeing.
Quite a few didn’t bother with all that effort and did it anyway.....

[Buttscratcher]

Yes, why let an innovative idea get in the way of productive paperwork.

[ACMS]

Yes, why let an innovative idea get in the way of productive paperwork.


ummmm Insurance.....

[Blackfriar]

We used to ship 20 tonnes of beef every week from Belfast to Cairo in a 707. No freight door, boxed beef on pallets raised to door level on a hilo and then carried in. Also did it with cigarettes which volumed out so we had them in the loos and overhead bins too.

[Wunwing]

A few years ago a US cargo carrier with DC9s (ABX I think) had a fleet of cargo aircraft with no cargo doors. The developed containers that fitted through pax doors.

Clearly a bit more developed and permanent than the A320 here but an interesting possibility medium term with only floor engineering to install rather than the full cut and shut.

Is the QF A321F in Australia yet.?

Wunwing

I

[aintsaying]

Wunwing, Yes it was ABX (Airborne express) with their DC9's. I was one of their certifying engineers in Vancouver Canada. Their containers were the size of door L1 opening and they had a 4" thick solid piece of teflon on the base. You just pushed them around like blocks of ice. Simple trick, well done to the guy who thought of that. At the time in those days, they were buying up used 767's at a great rate, for every 767 they brought and fitted a cargo door to, they had to decommission one DC9 or DC8.
But then DHL pulled out of the deal and I'm not sure what happened to ABX.

[foam]

Why do they need a hostie for freight? :confused:
We are doing this, but loading the cargo on the seats, under the seats, and in the overheads. Too much work taking the seats out, and we are doing a mix of passenger and cargo flights. I'd love some seatpacks, but they are hard to come by, and expensive.

We have to carry a flight attendant, or extra pilot, as the regs state that the cargo must be monitored "by someone appropriately trained during all stages of flight", so having one of the pilots wander down the back every now and then isn't sufficient.

[krismiler]

A dedicated freighter aircraft has a higher level of fire suppression systems which would be absent on a temporary conversion such as this. Cabin crew are trained in fire fighting and tested annually as part of the security and emergency procedures program. They undergo additional training to qualify to operate cargo flights.

The types of dangerous goods that can be carried are more restrictive than a purpose built or certified P2F conversion.