Old Apr 5, 2018, 3:58 am
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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

Old Apr 5, 2018, 9:36 am
  #31  
 
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Would this refresh also update the old WT+ to the new WT+ seats?
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Old Apr 5, 2018, 9:43 am
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by Pocalypse
Would this refresh also update the old WT+ to the new WT+ seats?
If it is the same as the Hi-J refresh, which I assume it is, then the seats are not replaced only new cushions and covers.
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Old Apr 5, 2018, 9:50 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by Steve_ZA
If it is the same as the Hi-J refresh, which I assume it is, then the seats are not replaced only new cushions and covers.
probably why its so quick to do then
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Old Apr 5, 2018, 10:07 am
  #34  
 
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Finally! This is great news :-:
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Old Apr 5, 2018, 10:30 am
  #35  
 
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I guess it's fairly safe to say that CIVJ-P and CIVT/U - the newer build 52Js will be the 9 getting the upgraded IFE and staying to the end, while the others sticking around a bit longer (BNLY and CIVA-E) will just get a good scrub.
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Old Apr 5, 2018, 10:33 am
  #36  
 
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It really has come to something when basic maintenance is being heralded as the second coming.

I've flown on four segments in these aircraft in the past few months and they are decrepit. Filthy doesn't even begin to describe the state that British Airways has let them get to.

On a recent flight to DFW, the gentleman sitting next to me carefully wiped around his entire seat with anti-bac wipes.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 4:42 am
  #37  
 
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Anyone got an idea if CPT will have a refurbished plane by end of Aug? I ask as I am flying First and really do not want a dirty cabin.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 4:46 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by TheWiseOne
Anyone got an idea if CPT will have a refurbished plane by end of Aug? I ask as I am flying First and really do not want a dirty cabin.
The aircraft that has been refurbished has now made one trip to CPT and back, is currently on its way back from Vancouver and is at the moment just leaving the Icelandic coastline.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-civm

So yes, it's possible, but you best check back in this thread 36 hours before departure to see what aircraft you have been allocated - no-one, not even anyone in in BA, will know right now.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 5:13 am
  #39  
 
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Do these 747's run the LHR-LAS route? Not looking forward to our economy flight home in June after checking last used aircraft.

We fly into JFK and checked flight radar and they're mainly using one of the 18 retrofitted 747's.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 5:31 am
  #40  
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Originally Posted by timtamd
Do these 747's run the LHR-LAS route?
Yes, any route that currently has 52J service 747s - such as LAS - may get the refurbished aircraft, as above best check here a few days before travel to find out. And you are correct that generally speaking JFK gets the 86J aircraft, which is a great configuration of the 747 in my opinion. Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum timtamd, it's good to see you here.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 5:59 am
  #41  
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Originally Posted by mjh0
As a regularinmate of the LHR-PHX route, I tend to agree.
oh dear so depressing.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 6:17 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Yes, any route that currently has 52J service 747s - such as LAS - may get the refurbished aircraft, as above best check here a few days before travel to find out. And you are correct that generally speaking JFK gets the 86J aircraft, which is a great configuration of the 747 in my opinion. Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum timtamd, it's good to see you here.

Thanks

Yes i've been checking the master list of the retrofit's and it seems my flight BA175 normally uses the 86J, not always but mainly! So thats one plus for the outward journey.
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 10:46 am
  #43  
 
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Exclamation

I'd not get your hopes up too much about this refresh... I've just come back from YVR on CIVM and (as corroborated by BASource), CW has not seen the same refurbishment that the rest of the aircraft has. Still the hopeless old Rockwell Collins IFE, no mood lighting, and tatty (but admittedly clean) CW seat surrounds. Even more annoyingly, upstairs in CW I had no working at-seat power, and one of the toilets was out of order for a while.

Any clue why they would refurbish/upgrade some of the plane but not the J seats? Seems bizarre...
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 11:31 am
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by jk156
I'd not get your hopes up too much about this refresh... I've just come back from YVR on CIVM and (as corroborated by BASource), CW has not seen the same refurbishment that the rest of the aircraft has. Still the hopeless old Rockwell Collins IFE, no mood lighting, and tatty (but admittedly clean) CW seat surrounds. Even more annoyingly, upstairs in CW I had no working at-seat power, and one of the toilets was out of order for a while.

Any clue why they would refurbish/upgrade some of the plane but not the J seats? Seems bizarre...
I am very surprised to hear this. I thought the plan was to fit the new IFE throughout (for the aircraft that were getting the full refurb), as per the 86J aircraft.

And why would they have two types of IFE on the same aircraft? Surely this aircraft couldn't have been refitted...?
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Old Apr 6, 2018, 11:35 am
  #45  
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Originally Posted by Flexible preferences
I am very surprised to hear this. I thought the plan was to fit the new IFE throughout (for the aircraft that were getting the full refurb), as per the 86J aircraft.
I don't understand it either, in that I can't see how they could easily maintain two IFE systems on the same aircraft. As far as I know it's never happened before, so I presume CIVM hasn't had (yet?) the Panasonic system installed.
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