When it comes to LH and Allegris they have supply chain problems since 2017 :)

G-VIIG is due back from Manila this afternoon and goes back into service tomorrow.

G-XLEE and G-YMMD should be due back into service soon from Manila and Cardiff respectively!

G-VIIM has headed down to CWL this morning.

Pilot37

I see B77W G-STBI is heading down to CWL tomorrow (18th April), Club Suite installation ?

Fingers crossed!
G-STBI caught us out once before by heading to CWL and then returning a week later around January, but it has been noted that BA wish to finish up the B77W refits this summer, so let’s hope this time it gets CS installed!

Pilot37

Can BAMC do 2 77W’s and a 787-8 all at once?

Apparently G-ZBJA (B788) is due to finish at the end of this week or very early next week at the latest, but is not yet scheduled to return due to the FAA / Boeing certification process it still has to go through.

Pilot37

It has three full bays.

Club article about the CWL facility

Let’s hope neither of the 77W’s pull a trick and reappear back at LHR anytime soon!

While I’m here (sorry).. Any news about the next few NEOs?

Future G-TNED is due to have its first flight in the next day or so (it had its RTO on Monday), but no sightings of the next A320NEO's in TLS or G-TNEE in XFW yet.

Pilot37

Will G-TNED have the new cabin?

G-YMME returned from TEV last month in oneworld colours. Only just noticed! Are there any others due for the oneworld livery?

Good spot, completely missed that!

Wiki updated to reflect that colour scheme and general aircraft movements around the fleet.

Pilot37

The big release last month claimed all future newly delivered aircraft will have the new seats and overhead bins etc. - but I'll believe it when I see it!

Pilot37

TTNV/12184 was spotted with just a painted tail a few weeks back so can't be far away from completion by now.

https://digitalairliners.com/2024/03...-19-20-3-2024/

Obviously this idea is depending on how you book, pay etc. but if you are flexible with your dates and times you could probably book using cash+avios and so change your booking or cancel the booking before the 24 hour cut off and just pay the small fee. You could closely observe which aircraft are due to fly a particular JFK-LHR flight the next day. Tricky, as some flights won't be allocated an aircraft until less than 24 hours cut off, but its not entirely impossible. Tomorrow nights BA172 for example already has G-STBH allocated to it with 27.5 hours until departure. Although BA114 and BA182 doesn't yet.

Again, this is not fool-proof and still could be a late equipment change. But you never know!

Good luck.

Some pics here:

That’s not a photo of the completed 787-8 layout. The 788 has two cabins of four rows of club suites, not 8 rows in one cabin as shown in the photo.
Layout per the excellent aerolopa website:
https://www.aerolopa.com/ba-78e

Are those people in the Club Suites watching the IFE, engineering/manufacturing staff testing the products? Seems odd when the cabin has just been fitted.

That isn’t the B788 in new layout, it is a stock photo of a CS cabin and the person who tweeted it should have made that a bit clearer.

Pilot37

As some have said, those aren't 787 interiors.

The first photo is of a 777 (manual window blinds, rather square-ish windows). The second is on A350 (see the handle and the "groove" on the overhead lockers) the third is again a 350 (window blind shape).

Anyway, the latest I know is that this week/next week the retrofit will be completed with the weighing. The big risk is the certification, as discussed earlier. At the moment, the introduction in service isn't pencilled in until May. The airline is caught between the FAA not having the resources to do in-house what they, in time, delegated to Boeing [their budget hasn't quite increased over time], and Boeing Commercial Aircraft having proved time, time, time and again that they're not to be trusted with building planes up to spec.

This is not just affecting 787-8s. The design of the 787-9 retrofit (and its eventual approval, and certification), and the whole 777-9 programme are also hanging in the balance. Things aren't good on the 787-10 front either: apart from the delays in getting the planes out of the production lines (as a reminder, the one that is currently being readied for delivery was intended to arrive in March!) the quality remains just appalling.

sorry if you’ve answered this before but what does the quality and spec of new aircraft have to do with the technicality of in-house retrofit of an existing aircraft?

as for trust in Boeing, can’t argue with you there.

im hearing delays in seats on the -10 I can’t confirm it but seems to be lined up with a May delivery.

to be fair, customers are also seeing 2-3 month delays on the existing delivery flow on the Airbus side.

This was a journey of discovery for me too, but the re-design of the interiors of the aircraft requires re-certification, and given that Boeing - as the OEM - is involved, then it's also a matter for the FAA. I'm not super well versed in all of the intricacies here, but apparently that's how it's done and has been done in the past. Boeing Global Services (BGS) and - if I understand correctly - Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA) are involved in the design, testing and manufacturing of the products. In the past, a lot of the work was self-certifying; now, given the disasters we all know, this isn't enough and the FAA might want to be involved too.

It's rather depressing for Boeing in my opinion. When I worked at an integrator under contract from the European Space Agency the fine fellas over in Noordwijk would scrutinise - say - the outcome of our HVAC tests, or be present at the testing campaign, but they'd never do it themselves. Tells you a lot about how low the Boeing stock is at the moment.

as for trust in Boeing, can’t argue with you there.

Seats and cabin upholstery are surely an issue, but there's big delays on engines and throughput from the factory. Plus what exits the production line is so riddled with missing bits and bobs, or with faults, that the flight line fits take almost as long.

Sure, Airbus might be struggling due to the backlog and high production rates (they churn 2x as many 320s as 737s as far as I know) but in speaking with senior captains working on deliveries you just don't see the same level of shoddy workmanship you see at Boeing. Some things I've been told shouldn't be put in writing, but they are mind-boggling.

This thread seems to be drifting away from its purpose of keeping us updated with the fleet of British Airways.

Indeed, we should probably take it over to https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni...ated-news.html

As has been mentioned, this thread was drifting off topic and into generic Boeing discussion. I have deleted quite a few posts from the last couple of pages. Please continue any such conversation in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni...ated-news.html if you have more than 180 posts (OMNI forum restriction).

Regards

aks120
Moderator: BAEC Forum

G-STBA came back from AUH overnight, although isn’t scheduled for an immediate return to service at the moment.

Pilot37

Flew DXB-LHR yesterday in the Club Suites and whilst I like the hard product and it was a nice flight, with pleasant crew and good food, I did notice a few things that speak to a lot of wear and tear on the interior:

- overhead compartment difficult to close
- side compartment (where they put the water and amenity kit) hard to close
- entertainment system bizarrely wouldn;t let me access any music- clicking on music icon was unresponsive. Strangely clicking on any other icon, including radio, movies etc. was fine
- the headphone connection was poor, resulting in sound only coming into one ear- I've had this before and managed to recitfy with a bit of pushing and prodding of the connection devie, but on this occasion it was not possible, and the only way to get sound in both was to continually apply pressure to the connector

So whilst overall I like the product and had a nice flight, I am a little surprised at just how many things seemed to be worn out, as the C Suites are a "new" product. I suppose it may be that it was one of the ealrier refurbed 777's, in which case I guess it may be as old as 4-5 years.

Has anyone heard an update on the state of the A35K (G-XWBC) damaged by the Virgin B789 (G-VDIA) at T3 almost 3 weeks ago? There's nothing on Flightradar24 for either aircraft since 5th April - presumably both are still being repaired? Is XWBC likely to be back in action soon?

If you flew back on Monday 22nd as BA108, your aircraft was G-VIIJ which was refurbished to CS in Oct 2021, so it is 2.5yrs old, but I guess that is a lot of wear and tear on plastic given it is flying so much!
The First suites aren't holding up well on the B77W fleet, so it seems like the material isn't of the highest quality or wasn't tested sufficiently for the use they get!

Pilot37

I don't have any specific dates - after all, asking an engineer "how long before it's fixed?" is the surest way to be given very accurate information on the route for Eff Off, but I've been told that it's not an easy repair.

Only an BA insider will be able to give you the most up to date information, but I guess it depends on much force was applied to the horizontal stabilizer during the collision. If it was just a mild bang, it should be back in action soon, but if the tug driver didn't realise initially and kept pushing the Virgin aircraft, it is possible the stress on the BA stabilizer bent some of the ribs towards the tail of the aircraft which would necessitate a much large fix!
We'll keep an eye out for it, but in these instances, safety will override everything else and BA will want to make sure there is no deeper (unseen) damage to the aircraft before returning it to service.

Pilot37

Wiki updated

Lots of aircraft getting some TLC this week at Heathrow
Exeter seems to have replaced Norwich as the Citiflyer base of choice for maintenance
Two B777's getting some TLC at LGW (including G-VIIS from LHR).
There were rumours BA had purchased the old Dan-air hanger for additional capacity at LGW, so perhaps we are starting to see that come on-stream or is it just the Boeing facilities being used at LGW for G-YMMA and G-VIIS?
No sign of G-XLEE coming back from Manila yet
While G-STBB and G-STBI are still in CWL and we hope both are having CS fitted, May 9th still shows 2 x CW B777-300ER operating to BOS and IAD, so I have a feeling we'll see G-STBB back at LHR in the next week (sadly) still in CW interior.
No sign of G-ZBLH having a first flight yet - so who knows when that will actually be delivered to BA! (and the other 4 B781's due this yr will have the same knock-on delays I assume!)

Pilot37

One of the challenges will be that from memory the horizontal tailplane has a fair amount of carbon / composite in it and the leading edge is graphene enhanced. It can be more difficult to see damage within composite components. Equally, it's too big to just remove and replace so the repair will likely require a fair bit of Airbus involvement. I remember a few decades ago an airframe accidentally hitting a wall quite hard when exiting the factory. While deemed airworthy after the incident, it was rumoured t always need a little extra trim to fly straight ;)

It is G-VIIN receiving some TLC at Gatwick. G-VIIS is currently on its way to Nassau from Heathrow.
Hopefully, BA have acquired that hangar at Gatwick. It is definitely needed!

Surely someone must know who's working on BA wide bodies at their second largest base? Boeing or in-house?

It was indeed G-VIIJ. Just checked on my app. It tells me her age but not when the refurb happened, so thank you for that useful information. She looked a lot younger than her 26 years, but a bit older than the 2.5 since the refurb :)

EUUY was doing circuits at Prestwick yesterday at the time of a light aircraft (PA28) crash just off airport

I didn’t see any of that- presumably why it’s not yet returned

I've taken the liberty of updating the wiki to add MIDS to the active LHR fleet, as it wasn't listed.