Most may not be aware, but AUSTRIAN has their own blog called red|blog that focuses on the great things going on behind the scenes at the airline. Every few days they post interesting articles that give fans and passengers a unique perspective. Recently, with Austrian’s retrofitting of the cabins found in their long-haul fleet, the red|blog has been giving us a great look at the process.
Most airlines generally do not like showing their aircraft in a state of repair where you can see the “bowels” of the aircraft, since it suggests that something may be wrong with the aircraft, etc. Not AUSTRIAN! they give us full access to their facilities and show step by step how the new cabins are coming together. In fact, they’ve started a special “10 story special” that will take us through the retrofitting of their long haul airliners, the Boeing 767 and 777. This is a special treat for us “Avgeeks”!
In the first post of the series, they go into great detail with a lot of pictures showing one of their Boeing 777s being refit at their facility in Vienna. The posts shows us that it’s simply not just pulling out the hold seats and bolting in the new. It gets a little bit more complicated!
An example of the behind the scenes look that Austrian is giving us
The second post of the series takes a deeper look into the retrofit of the 777. In this installment, we learn that the retrofit of their 777 is the first time that an airline is installing the seating and Inflight Entertainment System (IFE) on a 777. Also learned in this post is the fact that there are approximately 1400 drawings of schematics involved with the installation, along with removal of 150kg of cabling from the previous IFE. It also shows the 777 “stepping” onto a scale to weigh it, so that proper weight distribution can be confirmed.
A sample of the schematics involved with the installation
The lastest entry in the series takes a look for the first time at the retrofit taking place on a 767. This 767 is being retrofitted at a facility in Shannon, Ireland and posts takes a special look at the interior coming together from it’s bare bones to fully furnished cabin.
The brand new Business Cabin aboard Austrian’s Boeing 767
I hope you enjoy reading through Austrian’s efforts thus far and also enjoy the great behind the scenes access that Austrian has given us into the commitment to improve their cabins. As they release more installments on their blog site, I’ll be sure to bring them to your attention.
