Stalins Organ Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 This article in the SMH from late last year mentions that QANTAS's fleet replacement plans are "in tatters", however a colleague has just discussed with me what this actually means for their 767 fleet. QANTAS had "arranged" for their 767's to fly right up to their maintenance limits and then be replaced by the 787's - anything that was not due before the replacement has been deferred - typically some maintenance is performed befoer it is due because you are in the area for some other reason, so it is convenient and efficient to do it early rather than having to bring the a/c back a 2nd time at a later date. Only now the a/c are NOT going out of service they have to catch up with maintenance again. All rumour....but it seems plausible to me as a former a/c maintenance planner....and....oops!! It was probably not quite so bad for the 747-400 fleet, as those aircraft are not nearly so old & maintenance was probably being kept current as to maintain their resale value. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abneo3sierra Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 This article in the SMH from late last year mentions that QANTAS's fleet replacement plans are "in tatters", however a colleague has just discussed with me what this actually means for their 767 fleet. QANTAS had "arranged" for their 767's to fly right up to their maintenance limits and then be replaced by the 787's - anything that was not due before the replacement has been deferred - typically some maintenance is performed befoer it is due because you are in the area for some other reason, so it is convenient and efficient to do it early rather than having to bring the a/c back a 2nd time at a later date. Only now the a/c are NOT going out of service they have to catch up with maintenance again. All rumour....but it seems plausible to me as a former a/c maintenance planner....and....oops!! It was probably not quite so bad for the 747-400 fleet, as those aircraft are not nearly so old & maintenance was probably being kept current as to maintain their resale value. Alright...making me very nervous to fly on Qantas..but I would bet probably even money other airlines do this also. Have my own license but hard to fly a little Cessna over the pond.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 By the standards of most North American carriers, Qantas is still in pretty good shape as far as maintenance goes though. No dilemma for me. On domestic flights Qantas is regularly about triple the price of the other carriers so I don't fly with them. On international flights I'd rather opt to fly Singapore, Emirates or Malaysian for about 25% less cost than Qantas. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abneo3sierra Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 By the standards of most North American carriers, Qantas is still in pretty good shape as far as maintenance goes though. No dilemma for me. On domestic flights Qantas is regularly about triple the price of the other carriers so I don't fly with them. On international flights I'd rather opt to fly Singapore, Emirates or Malaysian for about 25% less cost than Qantas. I think this is pretty accurate..have seen some really scary data on that before. As for price though, alot of the time (when not flying on government account) I am a bit nervous to grab the "cheap flights"..always wonder why they are so cheap haha 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 Sorry - a misunderstanding here - there's nothing WRONG with the maintenance - they are doing all the things they are supposed to do when they are suppsoed to do them. However they were not doing some maintenance "in advance" of when it was supposed to happen, and did not make plans to do it when it would be due because that was goingto be after the a/c were out of service so someone else's problem.....so now have to rush around to get it done on time. planning down time for a/c to have maintenane is a big deal - it costs a ****-load of money, you want to know it is happening a long time in advance to cover flight schedules, major spares that might be required, and ensure you have hanger space.....and if you don't do that then you have to pay through the nose to get the resources at short notice 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I'm going through the same issue with my car. Vaguely planning on seeling it so the service has been overdue about a year now! I drive past the Qantas Avalon service facility a couple of times a week now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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