New QANTAS A380 Hangar at LAX

[mviy]

Apparently QANTAS has a new A380 hangar at LAX: https://twitter.com/flyLAXairport/status/804027298643116033

I think this shows QANTAS remains committed to using its existing A380 fleet, though the decision to build the new hangar would have been made quite some time ago.

 

[Himeno]

They had to move the old hangers in order to make way for the planned new TBIT midfield satellite concourse.

 

[moa999]

No external branding on the hangar?? Assume this will mostly be used during the regular daytime LAX layover

 

[serfty]

Went past it under construction back around Australia day this year:

[video=youtube_share;WlM7YY2yEAY]https://youtu.be/WlM7YY2yEAY[/video]

 

[JohnPhelan]

No external branding on the hangar?? Assume this will mostly be used during the regular daytime LAX layover

Yes, it's really at LAX where QF has the time available to do line maintenance. The SYD and MEL turnarounds don't allow for much.

 

[Melburnian1]

'The Australian's' aviation section (business pages) on Friday 21 April 2017 (often an interesting read as it does not always just parrot media releases) has a long article in which that unionist Steve Purvanis of the ALAEA questions QF's LAX engineering base and goes on at length about how he believes the staff there are not as qualified to undertake maintenance on aircraft as would be the case in Australia. He also makes various claims about supposed dodgy working practices, and says that QF's previous shutdowns of maintenance hangars at AVV and elsewhere have cost thousands of jobs.

QF counters by suggesting that it does 'most' of its maintenance of aircraft in Australia, but tellingly refused to give a percentage.

The article has a large photo of AJ with Julie Bishop and Steve Ciobo (Federal Ministers) and the Los Angeles Mayor cutting the ribbon for that new hangar.

The Federal Government briefly comments that QF generates services exports (that is, foreigners flying on an Australian registered airline to visit Oz - considered an 'export of tertiary services.')

It's worth a read so buy a copy at your local supermarket or convenience store. Second best is to read it online, but there is the small matter of the paywall.

 

[jb747]

QF does do most work in Oz, but a percentage will always need to be done overseas. The workloads are not always even, so staffing levels will always be an issue. In the case of the 380 a combination of economy of scale, and available time, will force it overseas. LAX is one of the few places that the aircraft sit on the ground for any length of time, and as such it makes perfect sense to do the work there.