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Qantas accelerates 767 refurbishments

written by australianaviation.com.au | November 1, 2012

Qantas has placed the first of a planned 16 refurbished 767-300s into service. The aircraft are being fitted with new interiors and individual inflight entertainment systems as part of a broader investment Qantas is making in refreshing its domestic product.

The airline says the 767 refurbishments are now due to be completed by the end of March 2013, six months earlier than first announced.

“These aircraft look and feel like new and we expect these changes to be very popular with our customers,” Qantas Domestic CEO Lyell Strambi said.

“Following the successful trial of our QStreaming service this year, we are partnering with Panasonic to provide over 200 hours of on-demand IFE content via iPads to every passenger in business and economy travelling on our fleet of refurbished B767 aircraft.”

Each 767 takes around two weeks to be upgraded, with the work being undertaken at the airline’s Brisbane heavy maintenance facility.

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Despite the upgrades Qantas says it will retire the last of its 767s by mid 2015.

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Comments (13)

  • Ron

    says:

    They should have been retired by 2005.

  • Len

    says:

    Doesn’t matter how much lipstick you put on a pig; it is still a pig!

  • Michael

    says:

    Mutton dressed as lamb

    Way to go QF. Yes I’m sure it’s going to be very popular

  • Ben

    says:

    Another example of how disengaged QF management are

  • Jeff

    says:

    And they use these on the new tourist routes against other airlines running new gear .No mention of improving fuel economy by also fitting winglets like all othere forward thinking carriers. ? Go Virgin- Go girl Go !! Well done john Borghetti.

  • Dan

    says:

    2015 really? I sure hope they also refreshen up the paint work and give it a good degreaser. There are some filthy 767’s in the fleet with badly faided red exteriors. 787’s would have given them an advantage. Another crap management decision.

  • Ron

    says:

    In fairness, QF should have dozens of 787’s by now, which would have seen all its 767s gone. That’s not QF’s fault. I don’t know how much compensation they’ve received from Boeing for the delays, but as Geoff Dixon once said, “Qantas would be a very different airline if we got those planes on time. No amount of compensation can fix that.”

    But what is QF’s fault is their response to it. They seem to have just sat there there & blamed everyone else for their problems (including pilots & engineers), while other airlines have been out there leasing shiny new A330’s & even 777’s to cover the delays, being pro-active, & continually promoting a new product. Qantas should have been all over this, but they haven’t.

    To me, dressing up a 767 that you’re only going to get rid off within less than 3 years is just throwing good money after bad. They’re only refurbishing the interior, not the exterior. It’s still a gruby old Bedford truck.

  • Chris

    says:

    “787′s would have given them an advantage. Another crap management decision.”

    Dan clearly doesn’t realise they are getting 787’s so probably a bit unfair to criticise management for that one.

    Probably a bit slow on the decision to upgrade the very aged interiors though, and I’d suspect this wouldn’t have happened at all if VA hadn’t introduced new widebody A330 services.

  • Ben

    says:

    Chris:

    They aren’t getting 787s at this stage. They cancelled their confirmed orders. Now they only have “options” which means its purely an option. They have chosen to take any if we want to be critical

  • Dan

    says:

    Chris it was Qantas who took cash to cancel their confirmed aircraft for 2013/14 delivery as such they have no confirmed 787 aircraft for delivery. Ron hit the nail on the head it’s still an old grubby Bedford truck with most of the 767’s being refurbished were delivered in the early 90’s making these 20 odd yr old aircraft. Cabin refreshment is defiantly needed if they plan to keep for another 3 yrs but Qantas is a premium airline yet they let Jetstar take their a330-200’s and now the 787’s.

  • Dane

    says:

    But why use an aircraft designed for long haul flight on short domestic routes? The 787’s fuel economy will surely be lost flying the hour long Syd-Mel or Syd-Bris etc. To me it makes perfect sense for Jetstar to operate the 787 on its international flights. Though the 767 does require replacement, I don’t believe the 787 is the solution. Maybe the A330-200?

  • Air Observer

    says:

    Actually i’m amazed that Joyce has made this decision, I thought he would have pressed airframes from the Qantas museum by now. 707s and Constellations with new tyres and ipads.

  • John Wilson

    says:

    I recently took a BNE-PTH flight on the 767-300 and was pleasantly surprised at the ride and legroom. We returned on the A330 which had the better interior and seat back entertainment. In spite of the tired interior I actually preferred the Boeing

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