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Mid-J 747 Cabin Refresh

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Old Apr 5, 2018, 3:58 am
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Last edit by: Globaliser
Mid-J 747 Refurbishments
In April 2018 BA announced that they had started a programme to refurbish the cabins on the Mid-J 747-400 fleet. In January 2020, this programme was completed.

As part of the refurbishment all of the aircraft involved have undergone a basic refresh which consisted of:

* Full aircraft deep clean
* Seats in WT/WTP refurbished with new seat foams and cushions as on Super Hi-J aircraft

9 of the aircraft received an ENHANCED refurbishment to bring the cabin up to the same standard as the Super Hi-J 747-400 fleet. This consisted of what is listed above plus:

* New carpets fitted throughout
* All curtains replaced
* New Panasonic IFE fitted in all classes

Note: It was initially believed that the enhanced refurbishment included LED mood lighting throughout, but this is not the case. All retained standard lighting. There were no plans to install WiFi to any Mid-J configured 747-400 aircraft.
Refurbishment Progress
Note: Aircraft that have undergone an ENHANCED refurbishment are shown in red

Aircraft are listed below in the order that they were refurbished and show return to service date, along with retirement date where applicable.

G-CIVM - 03 April 2018 - Retired 16 Mar 2020
G-CIVN - 22 April 2018 - Retired 16 Apr 2020
G-CIVD - 28 June 2018 - Retired 8 August 2020
G-CIVO - 14 October 2018 - Retired 11 September 2020
G-CIVT - 11 November 2018 - Retired 3 April 2020
G-CIVA - 14 January 2019 - Retired 3 April 2020
G-CIVJ - 28 January 2019 - Retired 15 April 2020
G-CIVC - 03 March 2019 - Retired 6 November 2020
G-CIVE - 24 March 2019 - Retired 16 September 2020
G-CIVP - 08 April 2019 - Retired 21 September 2020
G-CIVL - 20 April 2019 - Retired 14 April 2020
G-CIVU - 11 October 2019
G-CIVK - 25 October 2019 - Retired 26 September 2020
G-BNLY - 24 November 2019
G-CIVB - 25 January 2020 - Retired 8 October 2020



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Mid-J 747 Cabin Refresh

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Old Jun 15, 2018, 9:28 pm
  #121  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 10
Damn! I seen it said sept but was hoping maybe the schedule had improved! Let’s see how bad this old bird is. I had a refurbed 747 inbound into JFK and economy really wasn’t too pleasant.
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Old Jun 15, 2018, 9:33 pm
  #122  
 
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Originally Posted by timtamd
Damn! I seen it said sept but was hoping maybe the schedule had improved! Let’s see how bad this old bird is. I had a refurbed 747 inbound into JFK and economy really wasn’t too pleasant.
Be prepared for an IFE system reset or two. I do Vegas at least 3 times a year, and almost every flight heading eastbound there's issues. Strangely, seems much less common westbound.
Have a few movies on the laptop, just in case.
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Old Jun 15, 2018, 9:48 pm
  #123  
 
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Yeah I’ve heard about the resets! We’ve got a few ready. Do you always fly BA? Business or pleasure?
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Old Jun 15, 2018, 9:55 pm
  #124  
 
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Yes, I attained BAEC Gold last year, and am currently trying to keep it, so sticking with BA for the moment. At least until Aer Lingus decide to do a direct DUB to LAS flight. Do a mix of business and pleasure.
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Old Jun 15, 2018, 11:39 pm
  #125  
 
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I note the PHX route uses the old birds even the imminently retiring ones
what is the F like on these birds; preumably the old IFE otherwise ok?
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Old Jun 16, 2018, 3:13 am
  #126  
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Originally Posted by allturnleft
I note the PHX route uses the old birds even the imminently retiring ones
what is the F like on these birds; preumably the old IFE otherwise ok?
Hi,

F on the PHX route is the standard B 747 F ( pretty good ) even with the older IFE and immigration and customs at PHX are pretty quick ( If in F or CW )- might be a little longer if you are at the back of economy.


Regards

TBS
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Old Jun 28, 2018, 3:10 pm
  #127  
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G-CIVD returned to LHR this evening having been at CWL since 3rd June. The aicraft returned to service operating BA59 to CPT. Cabin and IFE upgrade status is unknown
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 5:52 am
  #128  
 
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Originally Posted by Scotflyer80
G-CIVD returned to LHR this evening having been at CWL since 3rd June. The aicraft returned to service operating BA59 to CPT. Cabin and IFE upgrade status is unknown
The first flight after maintenance was CPT and back, and it has just taken off for LAS within the last few minutes.
Anyone been onboard yet and can confirm whether IFE was upgraded or not?
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 8:45 am
  #129  
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Originally Posted by FinnRolo
Originally Posted by Scotflyer80
G-CIVD returned to LHR this evening having been at CWL since 3rd June. The aicraft returned to service operating BA59 to CPT. Cabin and IFE upgrade status is unknown
The first flight after maintenance was CPT and back, and it has just taken off for LAS within the last few minutes.
Anyone been onboard yet and can confirm whether IFE was upgraded or not?
More fundamentally, can anyone yet confirm that this aircraft has had the cabin refresh, new IFE or otherwise?
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 9:13 am
  #130  
 
Join Date: May 2014
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No 747s will have the new IFE until September. These first ones are just having either the deep clean+new seat covers, or the deep clean+seat covers+new walls, carpets and loos. This is as far as I can remember from the original discussions from not long ago.
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 4:14 pm
  #131  
 
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Originally Posted by 13900
No 747s will have the new IFE until September. These first ones are just having either the deep clean+new seat covers, or the deep clean+seat covers+new walls, carpets and loos. This is as far as I can remember from the original discussions from not long ago.
Point taken.
However, it seems more than a bit wasteful to take the aircraft out of service for a couple of weeks now for maintenance/deep cleaning/new seat covers etc. and not replace the IFE, only to take them back in at some date in the not too distant future to perform the IFE upgrade separately.
Or am I missing something?
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 4:18 pm
  #132  
 
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The aircraft that do not have new IFE fitted are most likely going to to stay with the old IFE until retirement.
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 8:00 pm
  #133  
 
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Originally Posted by Steve_ZA
The aircraft that do not have new IFE fitted are most likely going to to stay with the old IFE until retirement.
Which could be sooner than expected with fuel on the rise.
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Old Jun 30, 2018, 10:45 pm
  #134  
 
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Originally Posted by Calum
Which could be sooner than expected with fuel on the rise.
And be replaced with What? Or are BA planning on handing back a load of slot pairs.
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Old Jul 1, 2018, 1:33 am
  #135  
 
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Originally Posted by FinnRolo
Point taken.
However, it seems more than a bit wasteful to take the aircraft out of service for a couple of weeks now for maintenance/deep cleaning/new seat covers etc. and not replace the IFE, only to take them back in at some date in the not too distant future to perform the IFE upgrade separately.
Or am I missing something?
The deep clean/refresh is done during the normal Engineering checks timetable, so there's no need to stop the plane ad-hoc. There are, from memory, 16 Mid-Js. Originally (and I mean when the decision to change the Hi-J into Super Hi-Js with the new IFE) the Mids weren't meant to stay for long and were meant to be gone by 2020; then fleet plans changed, albeit ever so slightly, and now 9 (I think, just quoting from memory of old discussions) will remain for longer - how much longer, don't ask! - and will therefore get a new IFE. Since an IFE change is a fairly long piece of work, and with so many 787s lying around LHR without engines, this job cannot be done during the summer.

Originally Posted by rapidex
And be replaced with What? Or are BA planning on handing back a load of slot pairs.
Replacements aren't done on a 1:1 basis. At the moment, the 747s are being replaced by a mixture of 788, 789, 78K and 35K. It's impossible to say that, say, Vegas, will be in the long run be run by a 35K in lieu of a 744. In fairness, fleet plans are constantly reviewed, as well as each season's flying is.

All these are my opinion and not BA's.
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