Qantas 737 Refurbishment tracker

[moa999]

Click HERE to view an article on this topic collaboratively compiled by our members using the (now retired) Wiki.

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Commencing August 2015 and taking about 12 months, the Qantas Domestic 737 fleet of 67 aircraft is being refurbed.
It does not appear that the 8 NZ registered (ZK) aircraft are being changed.

Purpose of the refurbishment is to add WiFi to the planes without Seatback IFE, and add 6 additional seats by galley/toilet reconfig.
Has been reported the refurbs will take place both at SYD (40 aircraft) and BNE (27 aircraft)
QANTAS TO REFRESH BOEING 737 FLEET - Qantas News Room
Qantas Boeing 737s to get more seats, streaming wi-fi entertainment - Australian Business Traveller
The planes will go from 12J/156Y to 12J/162Y.

Original Fleet
38 Domestic with dropdown IFE only (VXA-VXU 21 2002/03 deliveries, VYA-VYL 12 2004-06 deliveries, VZA-VZE 5 2008 deliveries)
6 Domestic with Seatback IFE (VZL-VZS 6 2011 deliveries)
23 Domestic with Seatback IFE and Boeing Sky Interior (VZT-VZZ 7 2011/12 deliveries, XZA-XZP 16 2012/14 deliveries including RetroRoo XZP)
8 International with Seatback IFE (ZQA-ZQH 7 2009-11 deliveries) - not getting refurbed

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Summary of refurb
55 of 67 82%-- Seatcount increased - VXA-VXL,VXN-VXU,VYA-VYB,VYD-VYL,VZA-VZE,VZT,VZV-VZZ,XZA,XZD-XZF,XZH-XZP
65 of 67 97% -- With SIFE/ Q-Streaming (without are VXM,VYC)
29 of 29 100% - Seatback IFE - VZL-VZZ,XZA-XZP
36 of 38 95% - Q-Streaming - VXA-VXL,VXN-VXU,VYA-VYB,VYD-VYL,VZA-VZE

2 of 8 25℅-- Seatcount increased - ZQD, ZQE

Under refurb BNE
VH-VYC BNE - In 10/8/16 Exp 29/9

Under refurb SYD
?? VH-VYE - In 28/1/16 - Exp 8/2

Log of Refurbs
VH-VXR BNE - 28 days - In 7/8/15 Out 3/9/15
VH-VXQ BNE - 17 days - In 7/9/15 Out 23/9/15
VH-VZB SYD - 16 days - In 5/10/15 Out 20/10/15
VH-VZE BNE - 1mth 8 days - In 23/9/15 Out 30/10/15
VH-VYG SYD - 14 days - In 19/10/15 Out 1/11/15
VH-VYH SYD - 13 days - In 1/11/15 Out 13/11/15
VH-VYJ SYD - 11 days - In 14/11/15 Out 24/11/15
VH-VXC BNE - 1mth 4 days - In 30/10/15 Out 4/12/15 - C-check and refurb
VH-VYB BNE - 16 days - In 20/11/15 Out 5/12/15
VH-VZD SYD - 11 days - In 25/11/15 Out 6/12/15
VH-VXT SYD - 11 days - In 5/12/15 - Out 16/12
VH-VXD BNE - 1 mth 4 days- In 20/11/15 - Out 23/12/15 - C-check and refurb
VH-VYD BNE - 17 days - In 3/1/16 - Out 19/1/16
VH-VZA SYD - 12 days - In 18/1/16 - Out 29/1/16

While i'm happy to keep this up to date where I can, equally have no issues if others want to copy the data, update and repost the areas above.
Useful sources include theqantassource.com, FlightRadar24, and the YSSY message board

Note it appears that the Project Amber upgrade which was trialled on VXC (it with the honeycomb style divider between J and Y) which included renovation of sidewalls, bins and lights is not occuring.
"Qantas to upgrade Boeing 737s to fit more bags in overhead bins"
Qantas 738 Refurb: More seats, Q-stream IFE (from 2015)

 

[eminere]

Nothing to add here except kudos and thanks to you moa999 for doing this. (Where's a thumbs-up smiley when you need one?!)

 

[drpurpleturtle]

The seat maps have been published, those slimline lavatories sure look pretty tight!:
http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/738-12J162Y.pdf

 

[moa999]

And a side by side comparison of the two layouts (unfortunately the iconography of the seats has changed a little)

 

[A330]

It looks like the bench space is gone, but the "sitting" area appears to be almost the same. Also the small galley areas in front of the doors have been removed.

 

[Mattg]

I thought that row 4 legroom may be affected by the changes, but with the exit rows staying exactly where they are (rows 13 & 14) it looks like the only changes will be at the very back of the plane.

 

[Ansett]

Interesting to see the new lay out and agree that toilet looks mighty tight.

Perhaps OT but decided to se how the lay out compared to VA so looked up on Seat Guru and was surprised to see VA has a Seat pitch in Y of 31 inches versus QF who has only 30 inches.

So QF has less seat pitch than VA who started life as an LCC.

 

[Flying Fox]

I notice that the food carts might now be located directly next to the toilets.

 

[Ansett]

I notice that the food carts might now be located directly next to the toilets.

Not the case they are currently located next to the toilet however that galley area is being removed and the toilet shrunk even further to facilitate the addition of another row of seats. The Carts will now be located against the rear wall only in the refurbished units.

 

[Tom/PER]

Great work moa999.

I seem to recall reading a while back that a 73H was being returned to the lessor, from memory it was one of the VY* birds, is this lease return still planned?

The seats going into -VXR looked great, very stylish and modern from what I saw in a recent QF Newsroom release.

 

[moa999]

Interesting. First I had heard, albeit on Googling this popped up from a Qantas News Room post from 28 Aug 2014:

Two Qantas B737-800s, including one sourced from the domestic fleet and one from the trans-Tasman fleet, will be sold during FY15.

Albeit theqantassource.com still shows the 67/8 split.

 

[Tom/PER]

I can't recall where I read it originally it would of here been on here/yssy msg or maybe pprune (we frequent the same sites), it was quite an interesting thread as it went on to talk about some of the -VY* and earlier -VZ* series have a lower MTOW.

Could of even been in one of those Australian Australian Threads on airliners.net, someone was enquiring about IFE on 73H's on DRW and it went on from there. Try using the search function on there mate.

-VYK??

 

[waynemerry]

And a side by side comparison of the two layouts (unfortunately the iconography of the seats has changed a little)

Seems to me that the row 30 has a little less width. Is this an artifact of the drawing? Makes me wonder as the aircraft body is narrowing, and the spare space seems to have been consumed by row 29. I would think, on the basis of this drawing that either row 30 seats have to be a little narrower, or they need will stick into the aisle, making it narrower

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Interesting to see the new lay out and agree that toilet looks mighty tight.

Perhaps OT but decided to se how the lay out compared to VA so looked up on Seat Guru and was surprised to see VA has a Seat pitch in Y of 31 inches versus QF who has only 30 inches.

So QF has less seat pitch than VA who started life as an LCC.

I cant see how that is possible in the same space

 

[Ansett]

I cant see how that is possible in the same space

VA 4 Business class seats Vs QF 6 Business class seats is how

 

[ajw373]

So QF has less seat pitch than VA who started life as an LCC.

Though of course pitch is the distance between identical points on seats in two different rows. It isn't a true measure of how much knee/leg room one has. Same is true for business class seats where people, for example carry on about BA being 2x4x2 on a 777, compared to SQ being 1x2x1. Different seats, different layout, not comparable in that simplistic manner.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

VA 4 Business class seats Vs QF 6 Business class seats is how

But they also had the additional row of economy compared to existing Qantas config. With 28 rows of economy i find it hard to believe they have an extra inch of pitch in each row. Seatguru is often inaccurate. Ive never noticed any difference in economy seat pitch in standard rows between Qantas and Virgin on 737s

 

[Ansett]

But they also had the additional row of economy compared to existing Qantas config. With 28 rows of economy i find it hard to believe they have an extra inch of pitch in each row. Seatguru is often inaccurate. Ive never noticed any difference in economy seat pitch in standard rows between Qantas and Virgin on 737s

May I politely suggest you review the following websites

Airline seats | airlines | seating plans | airplane review | seat reviews | user reviews | seat maps | Seatplans.com

Airline Seat Maps, Flights shopping and Flight information- Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru

Seat-Pitch.com | Seat Pitch Airlines | Legroom Airlines

You may also find the following article interesting (scroll down to 737)

~Qantas - Reviews - Fleet, Aircraft, Seats & Cabin comfort - Opinions with pictures

perhaps the following review may also be of interest

~http://www.traveller.com.au/airline-review-qantas-737-economy-class-11uvbu

oh and also from the Qantas source

~http://www.theqantassource.com/seat...ource.com/seatmaps/b737-800/12j156yavod.html#

My comments stand

 

[pauly7]

Ive never noticed any difference in economy seat pitch in standard rows between Qantas and Virgin on 737s

Personally I feel the same way. I'm sure I'll get shrieked at by either a QF or a VA advocate but whatever the difference is supposed to be, it is so small I can't feel the difference.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I dont need to check the links the difference is so negligible