jm62

I just flew in F on a MD80 and it appeared to be brand new inside. The leather backs smelled like fresh leather, the seats and carpet appeared to be new and everything worked. Are they refurbishing these planes or was this just a fluke?

vail

Refurbishing them?
Lucky if the maintenace is being done.
Those aircraft have more delays than any others.

Mayve you were on a new 737?

grahampros

It's possible. Iv'e seen this on occassion where they have replaced the leather covers and new carpet. Realtively inexpensive and quick to do.

Many of the MD-80s are likely to be around another 10 years so i can see where some will get a freshing up without actual major interior refurbishment.

Trustguy

I actually was on one SFO-LAX a few weeks ago -- new carpet, new leather, seats with padding. ^

andreirublev

Does anyone remember seeing one with new, black leather in FC? I vaguely remember seeing one on DFW-PHX. I wasn't upgraded, so only saw it walking past, but thought it was odd to see black seats instead of the usual blue.

HNL

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That MD80 just came out if a heavy maintenance check in Tulsa. The aircraft is stripped down to te shell and basically rebuilt and that process includes new seat covers an padding, front to back.

phil_flyer

Saw it on a TV program one time. That's a really impressive bit of work the maintenance crews do out there. They literally disassemble almost every bit of the plane and refurb it all.

Now if only they would do it more often . . .

jbart74

Seat padding on AA metal? You must have been hallucinating!

Wish I was lucky enough to catch a ride on this one magic plane in the fleet!

WillTravel4Food

They don't really do the strip down to "pretty up" the furnishings, although that may be done. They need to be able to do a thorough inspection of the airframe. Once everything is removed from the interior, they can see the structure, wiring bundles, pneumatic lines, etc. Bottom line is cosmetics of the interior furnishings is not critical. Compliance with the FARs and maintenance program is. I bet it was nice though to get a mad dog fresh from its Sunday bath and a visit to the plastic surgeon.

grahampros

LOL..let's just hope they get the wires right this time so they dont get another 240 million dollar fine and days of grounded airplanes like in 2008.

lili

Do you know how often that is scheduled? We saw and Austrian Airlines plane on stripped in the hangar at the Vienna DO and it was quite a sight. But I forgot how often this is done.

KD5MDK

Presuming this is a D Check, wikipedia says every 4-5 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraf...tenance_checks

WillTravel4Food

It depends on the airline. I'll assume you know the AA schedule and the D is every 4-5 years. I've seem some airlines that break up their D Check so the plane isn't in the hanger for such a long period of time. A full D can take a couple months. For example, an airline can take the requirements of the D and break them out into four segments then have a segment done when the plane comes in for a C Check. Over the course of four C Checks - which might be scheduled every 16-18 months, the requirements of the D Check are completed. This way, the plane is in the hanger for anywhere between 7-14 days. I saw this done on some DC-8s many years ago. Current practice might be different, YMMV.

JDiver

From aa.com <link>

"C" Checks
The "C" check is the most thorough type of maintenance work performed by American. The airframe - virtually the entire aircraft - goes through an exhaustive series of checks, inspections and overhaul work. It is performed at either of American’s heavy maintenance and engineering centers in Tulsa, Oklahoma or the Alliance Maintenance Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. There are different levels of "C" checks depending on the type of aircraft.

These include:

Narrowbody "C" Checks
American does two types of "C" checks on its narrowbody planes. The first is a "Light C" check, which occurs approximately every 15 - 18 months. It requires approximately 2,100 man-hours and three days to accomplish. Every fourth "Light C" check becomes a "Heavy C" check. This check requires 20,000 - 30,000 man-hours and takes from three to five weeks to accomplish.

Slightly off-topic, there's some discussion as to whether AA "got the wiring wrong" or if it was an FAA power play to respond to criticism they were enduring for lax oversight services. The issue was about a sleeve over a wiring bundle and whether the lacing was exactly at one inch intervals or slightly over. In another life, I did (among other things) manufactured critical cable assemblies, with hand harnessing, both with waxed twine and with cable ties - a quarter of an inch makes little difference in the real world, whether using harness twine or ties. But the FAA is the 500 pound gorilla in this scenario, so... they used the letter of law rather than the intent so show they were doing their job and used AA as a scapegoat, IMO, and we paid the bill.

WillTravel4Food

FAA has good reason to be aggressive on wiring problems, especially in aging aircraft. See FAA Electrical Systems Research. There have been several incidents where aged wire insulation has failed and caused problems. I won't go into TWA 800 since that seems to be a target for the conspiracy theorists, but there have been other incidents with aged wiring as the root cause or contributing factor. Older DC9s (MD80s too) are reaching the age where this is a concern. Airline wiring is very specific on the bundling and harnessing. They expect the wire to be held in a specific manner to ensure the bundle doesn't "sag" or "rub" where it was never expected to. And if it does so in the wrong place, fraying can occur, exposing wiring and possibly short. Even simple things such as compressing the insulation too much can cause damage that could lead to a failure.

Yes, I've talked to way too many inspectors and engineers. This stuff is facinating!