How Austrian Airlines Is Adapting Its Fleet During COVID-19

The majority of Austrian Airlines’ fleet of about 80 aircraft has been parked at Vienna International Airport since the airline suspended regular flight operations in mid-March due to the novel coronavirus crisis. This week the carrier is working to reactivate 12 aircraft as it resumes flight operations.

According to Michael Kogler, head of aircraft maintenance at Austrian Airlines, it takes approximately 48 hours for maintenance personnel to get grounded aircraft flight-ready after the nearly three-month stop.

Technical staff check aircraft exteriors for damage such as bird strikes and aircraft electronics are switched on to perform system tests. According to Austrian Airlines, all technical personnel are being supplied with masks and hand disinfectant during their shifts.

During this grounding period, a portion of the airline’s long-haul fleet has been used to transport air cargo such as medical protective equipment, primarily from China and Malaysia to Austria.

In addition to cargo capacity in the aircraft belly, Austrian Airlines has been using space on aircraft seats in the passenger cabin.

In April, Austrian Airlines began the process of temporarily converting two Boeing 777 aircraft into “preighters” by removing 270 of 306 passenger seats from all travel classes.

Austrian Technik spent approximately 500 man-hours per aircraft to complete the conversions, which have increased cargo capacity by approximately 35% per aircraft. Austrian Airlines CEO Jens Ritter says the aircraft can be converted back into passenger format once demand for travel picks up again.

Austrian Airlines restarted operations on June 15 with 5% of last year’s capacity. It expects this number to increase to 20% in July, including its first long-haul flights.

During the reactivation process, these 12 aircraft have undergone flight simulation on the ground as well as test fueling, opening and closing all doors and flaps, and checking to make sure all needed documents and manuals are on board.

At first, Austrian Airlines plans to primarily fly smaller aircraft such as its Embraer 195s and de Havilland Dash 8s for destinations in Europe and Israel. However, the carrier’s fleet will be undergoing some transformations due to reduced demand. Austrian Airlines already was phasing out all of its 18 Dash 8 aircraft, which began in 2019. It now plans to retire 13 Dash 8-400s, three of its six Boeing 767-300s and all seven of its Airbus A319s.