Qantas To Reconfigure International Aircraft
 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aUFE3wsx12hU

So any ideas?

Wonder if the B744 will have a single config for all the aircraft instead of the current 3 separate configs?

I assume the A333 config will remain the same 30J/267Y? I see the current Intl A332 config changing from the current 36J/199Y to something like 30J/215Y to better match the A333 fleet??

Wonder if they will take this opportunity to add premium Y to the 2 class B744s? and maybe add the A380 economy style seats to the rest of the Intl fleet?
And what about the A380? Less J seats and more Y+ on the upper deck?

Interesting....

This was in the media back in August! Bloomberg are a bit slow off the mark?

Qantas also announced plans to cut costs by $1.5 billion over the next three years, starting with a target of $500 million this financial year.

Key components of the cost cutting plan include reconfiguring aircraft, including the superjumbo A380, technology advancements and fuel conservation.

I think the plan is to just leave the config the same but sell the first seats as business.

It is the front page story in the Fin Review today. Actual changes in config will occur.

Yep, they should finish the re-configuration program just in time for the recovery.
Pants down yet again. :ugh:

Havent we all been here before..........when some things change they stay pretty much the same!..........just the players this time are different.

woftam is exactly what it is!

They should have been doing this 12-18 months ago when the writing was on the wall...pro-active rather than re-active, but this is a perfect example why Qantas is not a market leader.

So you would have like to have been sacked earlier TL or are you just a wind up merchant?

Who said anything about being sacked? I was referring to the decision to remove premium seats just in time for demand to pick up again...as Singapore and Cathay are starting to see:

Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines see pick-up in premium...

Latest rumour is QF is about to announce that all B744s and A330s are going to be completely refit with new configs, as well as the A380 style seats, and updated A380 style IFE.

The B744s will also apparently receive new toilets and galleys as well....

Stay tuned I guess!

Will that include orange leather seats?:}

The QF Dugongs need an increase in seats (yes SQ got it right and QF got it wrong) to improve its figures, but an informed source said that it was impossible to change the configuration until after the 8th aircraft. Specifications are locked in on the production line up to that aircraft. Retrofitting configuration changes on any Airbus type is very expensive as all bulkheads are structural.

I wouldn't be surprised if all the existing "Pacific" configured B744's (that are planned to be retained for a number of years) are converted to a "Kangaroo" style configuration with the newer Dugong style seats and Panasonic IFE. They certainly need a fresh facelift.

No End in Sight to Airline Crisis As Latest Figures Show No Signs of Recovery
 

AEA calls for stakeholder summit to create conditions necessary for recovery

(November 17, 2009) -- The Association of European Airlines, representing Europe's most important network carriers, is calling on European policy-makers to convene a 'stakeholder summit' to address the challenges facing the European airline sector during the longest and deepest business downturn in its history.

The call comes as latest traffic figures emerging from AEA show no sign of improvement. Even compared to a depressed baseline in late 2008, this year's figures remain locked-in to a trend line about 2% below last year's already dismal figures. The traffic decline pales into insignificance, however, compared to the price effects of the seriously depressed market; latest yield figures show that the average ticket price per kilometre of travel has fallen by more than 15%.

Said AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus: "The foundations for a sustainable European air transport sector are crumbling. Portions of our industry are close to collapse - indeed, we have seen failures among premium carriers, leisure carriers, no-frills and cargo airlines. Some network airlines are ceasing to exist as independent entities. Others are exiting markets that they will not re-enter. Secondary markets are losing service. Tens of thousands of people employed by or sustained by the airlines are losing their jobs".

The policy-makers had a choice, said Mr Schulte-Strathaus: watch a weakened and traumatised industry struggle to rebuild within existing constraints, or take proactive steps to construct a regulatory framework within which a return to prosperity could be expedited, and European air transport re-establish itself as a powerful global force. "The US are a step ahead of us in grasping the severity of the crisis", he said. "Their government has already hosted a stakeholder forum and is setting up a Federal Advisory Committee to discuss the future of the industry".

Turning to the latest traffic figures, Mr Schulte-Strathaus said: "The AEA airlines, collectively, have failed to make a profit in the summer, leaving them ill-prepared to face what will be a heavily unprofitable winter. Decision-makers must realise that a key European resource is under threat and steps must be taken - now - to act positively and decisively to create the conditions under which prosperity can be restored as quickly as possible. I invite the European Commission to follow the example of their US counterparts and put in place a structured dialogue with stakeholders, to create the policy which will safeguard the benefits that aviation brings to Europe's citizens and businesses".

Source : Association of European Airlines

wonder if they will use avalon again for this maybe re-configuration they just let go some people with a lot of experince this week.:ugh:

Hi,

Page 31 of the investor presentation lists some info about reconfigs/upgrades:

http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/2009112...9drs40tf76.pdf

Says B744 product will be upgraded. Nothing about the A330 though?

Some interesting reading.

Thanks

Anyone heard anymore on this?

Apparently an announcement is due very soon.

Work on the first upgraded B744 is due to begin in FEB....

the reconfigiration program cannot commence until A380 number 6 arrives from footlouse.

the problem with the Airbus delivery schedule has delayed announcements as the board will not announce the full details until the first aircraft is ready for the hanger program most likely

Or hangAr...

merci :)

HANGAR :)

Sorry Pegasus, it's just one of those words that really gets my goat up. :-)

I'll add to this argument. Why won't the big Q reconfigure the cabins to have PROPER bar spaces like V Aus??? My two mates and I got kicked out of the Business "bar" on an A380 because we "were upsetting the first class passengers". Pathetic. And it's only a space fit for four people to sit in, and there's no self service!

(I don't know what V Aus actually has, I've only heard rumours....)

There is no icon for a post like that.

Perhaps this will just have to do.

:ugh:

Pegasus,

Hasn't VH-OQF turned up yet?

DeeJayEss,

Business class bar on Emirates' A380s - :ok::ok::ok: but just like the upstairs bars on the early short-hump classic 747s, doubtless some bean-counter will one day decide to jam more seats in so get it while you can!

One of these? Must polish my CFM boots :E
http://www.aviationexplorer.com/Comm...Upper_Deck.jpg

I was told the other day that aircraft 6 has had three failed attempts at getting out of Toulouse.

Anybody got any info.....?

i heard H245 Sydney maybe doing the refits.something about an overflow facility

I doubt h245 will ever see a jumbo again. The hangar and docking haven't been maintained since its closure and to have a 744 worked on in there again would require major docking repairs etc to bring it up to OHS regulations. If they kept it maintained on a monthly basis it might have been salvagable. I believe the porn star have looked at it quite a few times and have taken detailed measurements to see if it would be a suitable 787 hangar. Time will tell.
And if H245 ever sees any work ever again it will just prove the lie David Cox told the media when HM was closed. If you recall one of his statements was that the whole hangar block had to go due to SACL requirements but then that is another story.

And yes VH-OQF did arrive today after a couple of false starts. First was a return to the airbus hangar with some defect and then it was held back by a severely snowed in airport.

I believe it is in H96 now getting pre service mods done and goes into service on Saturday. But these things change at the drop of a hat.

Worrals,


I think you will find that is a pic of a lower deck lounge. The stairs are going the wrong way!

Unless it was a Boeing idea for a triple deck aircraft:oh:

Come to think of it,this was not a promo shot for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is it? :E

I love the 70's and especially that sunken dance floor or was it some sort of love in bed?

744 config change.
The rumor I am hearing is IFE change.
Rockwell Collins out. Matsu****a/Panasonic in.
A dozen years to late but about time
:ok:

IFE System
 

Rockwell Collins produced a reasonable IFE system at a price.....cheap
QF marketing got hold of it and tried to make it do what it wasnt designed to do
Marketing hasnt learnt.
They are trying to do it again with Panasonic on the A380.
Its axiomatic that QF marketing and technology dont gel

Thank god for that.
After another IFE failure the other day requiring total reboot inflight, enough is enough.
I'm tired of saying, "I'm sorry Sir/Ma'am, the system can't handle everyone accessing it at the same time".

First I have heard of it.
A380 panasonic IFE is out of the box without fiddling.

Wrong, at the time QF ordered the Rockwell Collins IFE, both SQ & CX were experiencing very significant reliability issues with their systems and R/C convinced QF that there system was better technology and more reliable. History now shows that it wasn't. The system was definitely not cheap.

The Panasonic IFE team proudly claim that QF is using more of the features that their system is capable of, than any other airline that has ordered it. The Panasonic facility in the US that has been developing the product for its customer airlines has a secure room for each airline and staff that work on an airline's product are not allowed to enter another airline's room. Obviously, the more system features that you use, the more money you have to pay, so you can't say that Qantas is taking the cheap option.

It will be interesting to see how many of the B744's will be refurbished as there are quite a few scheduled to go to the desert as more A380's arrive. Obviously the 6 B744 ER's and OJS/T/U will be updated but apart from that depends on how long the remaining aircraft will be in service.

Also, they may justify a business case to replace the R/C IFE system in the A330 fleet with the Panasonic system. Reliability issues have caused significant adverse Pax comments in market surveys.

The Tiger Lounge

A380 buyer keeps mum about possible luxuries aboard cruise ship of the skies

It does look remarkably like that 2001 though.

Michael

PS: TinEye Reverse Image Search is excellent for image searches.

Having had a look at recent posts, seems to me that IFE systems (whoever makes them) are not as reliable as the airframes in which they are installed. They all make promises which they fail to keep in real-life situations.

I don't think it is about the competence of the airline marketeers.

Then again:E

The Panasonic IFE on the 380 is streets ahead of the Rockwell system. While no doubt it has some problems it is still a lot more stable and has less issues than the Rockwell system.

And we must thank Rockwell for not delivering their product on time for the 330s,this is how Panasonic came to be the preferred installation for pretty much the whole fleet from now on.
Hopefully QF arent getting screwed on the service contract by Panasonic like they were from Rockwell.

Bootstrap, the initial R/C IFE system contract had a clause guaranteeing 97% servicability. Rockwell said that this could only be achieved if only their engineers touched the system (ie C/C & QF engineers were not allowed to attempt any rectifications initially). The fact that their engineers could not produce anywhere near the guaranteed reliability meant that there were significant penalty payments. When the warranty period expired, QF engineers took over the IFE servicing and from what I've seen, there has been a significant improvement in the reliability of the system (still not as good as our pax want). Installation of the R/C IFE into the original A330's was made even worse because Airbus wouldn't allow the R/C software engineers access to the "source codes" used by the A330 Cabin Computer system and thus there were significant problems getting the two systems to communicate seamlessly.

You are right about the Panasonic system being streets ahead of R/C. 2 Terrabytes of data storage, no hard-wiring of screens to cards in the main system, electronic data processing circuits in the base of each screen instead of in a box under the seat where people continually kick it, etc. It's at least a generation ahead of the R/C system

Is it not correct that a team from Toolose :E is in OZ trying to fix probs with the dugong?
That seems to be normal for a lot of computer software packages.
Was it true a few years ago with the release from marketing about the mel/jnb services with the problem that ops had to tell them that at certain times of the year it was not possible?
Maketing/sales is a lot like the spin team in political parties.What they would like and what they tell the public is not always reality.
Their job is to either beat the opposition or make it look like they are beating the opposition.whether this is reality or not does not matter.

Going Boeing, I beg to differ. At a special S/O briefing many moons ago, John Borghetti said "Geoff Dixon bought the Rockwell Collins system because it was cheap". This is word for word from his mouth. That is why Qantas bought it and no other reason! It was from that day we also knew the 2 didn't see eye to eye on many issues :}