We all know that today’s aircraft are a miracles of modern engineering, held up thousands of miles from the ground by an unimaginable network of wiring, screws, rivets and engineering precision among a host of infinitesimal details.
This fact was never brought home more than during the exclusive tour taken by Business Traveller last Wednesday of a Virgin Atlantic B747 now undergoing refurbishing at the HAECO (Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company) complex.
Phil Maher, Virgin’s director of engineering, noted that this was the first time the airline entrusted HAECO with a retrofit, pronouncing the quality of the workmanship to be top calibre. "I’m very pleased at how it's going. It’s been fantastic," he said. Previously, Virgin contracted a Dublin-based company, called FLS, to perform similar tasks.
The jumbo, named "Barbarella", arrived from Gatwick Airport on April 16 completely stripped of furnishings – seats, galleys, overhead compartments, carpets, you name it. From there, HAECO and project partner Northwest Aerospace Technologies (NAT) took over the plane with the goal to produce "a completely new product", according to Maher.
Asked to comment on Virgin's decision to stick with the much loved aircraft model instead of retiring it as some other airlines are doing, Maher said he was confident customers would be delighted with the results that will include newly designed seats in premium economy and economy as well as a game-changing IFE system, JAM by Panasonic, in all cabins (click here for more details). Upper class will see no alteration in the familiar herringbone layout, but it will nevertheless undergo a refresh.
These enhancements will be rolled out on the Orlando, Las Vegas and Caribbean routes, said Maher.
Here's a snapshot of the project in Hong Kong:
• How much is this B747 retrofit costing Virgin Atlantic? £60 million (US$95 million)
• How many B747s are in the refurb? Five of one variant B747, two of another variant B747 – not all B747s are alike
• How long is one aircraft expected to be out of commission? The first two aircraft will be out for 31 days, the remaining 22 days.
• How many HAECO technicians are assigned to the project? Between 120 and 180 staff, with seven Virgin executives in town to oversee the first two aircraft
• How much lighter will the aircraft be with innovative materials and spare parts (cabling, for example) installed? It is expected to be around 500kg lighter or around 0.2 per cent in overall weight.
• When will the ongoing retrofit be completed? Delivery is estimated to happen by May 22.
For more about Virgin Atlantic, visit www.virgin-atlantic.com
Margie T Logarta
