As the mighty widebody Airbus A350s are geared for a cabin retrofit post completing almost a decade in service, Airbus is ramping its capacity and protocols to aid airlines in cabin retrofit procedures. The cover story of the inaugural issue of Aircraft Interiors today is selected eyeing the current needs of number airlines across the globe who will opt for cabin retrofits on their nine-year old A350s in months to come.
Interestingly as the aircraft completes eight years in service, it is expected to under cabin retrofit, since theA350s have crossed the threshold mark, Airbus is all geared up for the first wave of cabin retrofits to hit them any time soon.
Since 2014, almost 600 A350s have been delivered and by 2028, about 390 A350s will be reaching the threshold age of cabin retrofit program. Typical upgrade drivers for airlines will include:
- interior rebranding;
- class segmentation;
- seat-count optimisation;
and harmonising their in-service products to match those of the new aircraft joining their respective fleets
Airbus has developed its catalogue of retrofit BFE and SFE cabin products for customers, customised as per their particular A350 production standard and configuration. Now airlines can consider a wide range of additions to the Supplier-Furnished-Equipment (SFE) cabin equipment catalogue items that typically include new types of lavatories, galleys, ovens, fridges, chillers, beverage makers, trash compactors, electro-dimmable windows etc.
There were not originally available at the time of the A350’s cabin definition freeze in the early 2010s
There are also new types of buyer-furnished equipment (BFE) to consider including business and economy class seats and new types of in-flight entertainment (IFE). For example, from 2020 Airbus offered 4K IFE versus the existing 1080p screen definition.
New built-in SFE satellite connectivity solution
Airbus is offering as SFE (both in retrofit and linefit) its built-in high-bandwidth connectivity platform, known as HBCplus. With this flexible satcom solution, the antenna and modem hardware are fully integrated as an SFE product. This approach enables in-flight connectivity directly from multiple satellite constellations, via a choice of network providers. By contrast, previous connectivity offers were only provided as part of a bundle with IFE and the BFE hardware, thus any change of the service provider would require a change of the hardware.
Examples of typical A350 & Widebody airliner cabin retrofit trends
From the operator perspective, some general trends and OEM cabin-related offerings for large airliner cabin upgrades are observed across the industry. Some examples are summarised below:
- Business Class demand for more privacy features: A current trend is the installation of Business Class seats or ‘mini-suites’ with sliding doors. The A350 can offer these with four-abreast direct-aisle access, with arrangement in either herringbone, (angled relative to the aisle) or staggered (parallel to the aisle).
- Premium Economy Class gaining popularity: Airlines are choosing to retrofit premium economy (PYC) where it was not originally selected in line-fit. In the A350, PYC is typically accommodated in an eight-abreast layout, with a pitch of around 38 inches (versus nine-abreast and 31–32-inch pitch for regular Economy class).
With lower ticket prices compared with Business Class, PYC also reduces the associated CO² emissions per passenger per square metre – which are approximately half of those in Business Class.
A PYC cabin upgrade was recently performed by Airbus for ITA Airways, to harmonise the cabin experience of the customer’s in-service A350s with that of its new A330neos.
- Economy Class – increasing floor space efficiency: Typical economy class in A350s is the standard nine-abreast with an efficient pitch between 31 and 32 inches and seat width of 18 inches. Airbus has also developed a more optimal 10-abreast configuration for the latest versions of the A350 being delivered which feature a slightly wider wall-to-wall cross section.
- Lavatory trim & finish refresh is a ‘quick-win’ for maximising passenger perception, and thus airlines typically include it during their cabin upgrades. On the A350 an option exists to introduce a more floor-space efficient lavatory which Airbus calls “Smart Lav”. Its smaller footprint brings tangible layout benefits such as a seat-count increase.
- Galley inserts (GAINs): Apart from cleaning and ‘wear & tear’ repairs as required, GAINs are usually unchanged during a cabin retrofit.
- Passenger comfort features: Optional passenger comfort features, such as light-restrictive curtain headers, electrically dimmable windows etc. are available for the A350 and would typically be considered.A350 Customers can also upgrade their customisable ‘mood’ lighting scenarios for passengers and/or to convey new branding etc., easily via software updates.
- The latest In-Flight Entertainment & Connectivity (IFEC) technologies: The IFEC landscape and supply chain is constantly evolving and airlines strive to offer the latest IFEC technology convenience for their passengers.
Migrating from 2D design processes to 3D Digital Mockup (DMU)
Another important phase is the Digital Mock-Up (DMU) for theentire structure, including the cabin. The DMU describes the entire aircraft design in 3D throughout its lifecycle, including for design upgrades and modifications. It shows the airlines their proposed new cabin layout looks in 3D, allows the engineers to explore within the structures, below the floor or in the ceiling crown area so they can define best routing for pipes or cables to avoid clashing with surrounding structures.
For the subsequent Service Bulletin (SB) the 3D output from the DMU is converted into 2D for design certification and for the MRO to plan the embodiment and produce the job cards.
DMU also helps to manage the updating of the aircraft’s technical documentation in the digital domain including all the manuals like the structural repair manual (SRM), aircraft maintenance manual (AMM), illustrated parts catalogue (IPC), etc.
The evolution of A230 designs and mod-stacking’ implications
The A350 has evolved over the years in successive production batches, Airbus calls them as ‘Steps’. These include enhancements to the cabin, avionics, aerodynamics, the airframe structure, weight savings, and so on. Now if an airline buys A350 at Step-7, the aircraft might feature a slightly longer and wider cabin, as well improved aircraft performance thanks to a new aerodynamics package and also weight savings to the fuselage and wings.
This operator might have older A350s in its fleet and may want to harmonise the cabins across its entire A350 fleet. In this case, it is not the case of simple copy-paste of same seats and monuments as the cabin floor, seat tracks, seat-to-seat cabling routings and sidewalls etc. are physically different for both the old and new A350s.
The general term governing which modifications are needed as a prerequisite is called ‘mod-stacking’. Overall, as more and more upgrade ‘mods’ are certified, they are re-enriched back into the DMU for subsequent A350 production standards. They are also added to the ‘ready-made’ bank of design solutions to be available as required for future upgrades of in-service aircraft.
Third-party STC modification impact in OEM Upgrade Service Bulletins
Additional complications can arise if the aircraft on which the new mod is to be applied contains any prior modifications which had been implemented by a third party using their own Supplemental Type Certificate (STC), and moreover, these mods were not incorporated into Airbus’ own DMU for that aircraft. Therefore, before Airbus could upgrade the affected zone, a prerequisite is that it would first need to be brought back to the original configuration – ie. ‘As delivered’ by Airbus.
For this reason, when an airline comes to Airbus enquiring about a potential upgrade, often the first thing they are asked is whether they have applied any STCs by third-parties on their aircraft. This is because Airbus cannot certify nor provide support for somebody else’s STC to perform a mod on top of it. Nevertheless, Airbus is ready to support if the customer has a qualified ‘design-organisation-approval’ (DOA), by sharing its technical data and IP on a case-by-case basis – which would be a chargeable service.
Lead-time considerations
One of the most important parts of cabin retrofit is lead-time considerations. Airlines should put aside around one year’s time starting from the proposed meeting with the provider. For mor complicated cases requiring designing of new seats or complex cabin upgrades can take up to three-years of time.
Ideally airlines consider cabin upgrades during C-checks to leverage the downtime and minimise the operations impact. But if the retrofit might take longer than a month then it is advisable to do it during winters or lull-periods in air travel.
It also depends of course on the MRO availability in terms of slots.
The Service Bulletin authoring phase typically start some six to nine months before embodiment, during which Airbus is in close contact with the customer to ensure no structural, systems clashes or other ‘surprises’ once the aircraft arrive and the kits are delivered
When these SBs are finalised and approved, they are delivered by Airbus to the MRO around one month before the first kits arrive from Airbus’ dedicated logistics centre in Hamburg, Finkenwerder, and the customer’s aircraft enters the working party hangar. This is the approximate time needed for the MROs production planners and manufacturing engineers to study the SBs and prepare the work sequence and the associated job cards.
The development, qualification, manufacture and delivery of new seat models – especially if an airline wants to have brand new business class seats can add up to 36 months to the ‘critical path’ in terms of the overall project planning and lead time.
Preliminary groundwork for the customer’s Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
Once the airline decides on cabin upgrade it launches a preliminary feasibility discussion with external partners, MROs, vendors etc. The airline draws up a concept including –
- Layout of Passenger Accommodation (LOPA)
- Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM)
- Due Dates
- Available MRO and hangar slots
During this exploratory phase, the airline work with Airbus Upgrades Services on defining the post-mod LOPA long before the SB design can be finalised. Also known as the “Aircraft Interior Control Document” (AICD), the LOPA is essentially the engineering diagram which outlines the aircraft’s cabin interior which includes locations of passenger and crew seats, emergency equipment, lavatories, galleys and the exits.
Many customers already have a good initial idea of what they want to implement post-mod and LOPA while some are open to Airbus suggestions.
The preliminary phase helps to ensure that the RFP already takes into account the feedback from potential providers, and will not therefore require further re-drafting, thus paving the way for a smoother tender response phase from the prospective providers and final down-selection. Once all the items have been approved by internal management, the operator will issue its formal RFP to the prospective external providers.
Upgrade providers’ response: Commercial & Technical Offer
From Airbus’ perspective, once it receives and subsequently analyses that RFP, it provides the ‘Commercial Offer’ to the customer. This offer will confirm all the details such as firm pricing, escalation rules, milestones planning etc along with the deliverables which usually include the SBs, kits, and when requested.
The Technical Offer, which is a prerequisite for the Commercial Offer, advises on which items will be removed or installed, what is touched and what should be untouched, and which new items will be BFE versus SFE etc. It will also highlight which ATA Chapter expertise and competences will be required during the upgrade – eg. Air Conditioning; Electrical Power; Equipment & Furnishings; Water & Waste, and so on.
The Commercial Offer is also needed by the customer to engage with its chosen MRO to firm-up slots and work scope. For example, it enables them to understand when the first head-of-version will start the working party, the frequency and the cadence – eg one per month, or two per month etc.
Customer’s offer acceptance and project kick-off
Once the resulting final Technical & Commercial offer has been accepted by the airline, the official project kick-off meeting is convened during which Airbus assigns a dedicated Upgrade Programme Manager (UPM). The UPM will be there with the customer – from guidance with LOPA finalisation, providing access to Airbus’ expertise and resources in Cabin Engineering and DMU, taking them through the complete cabin certification process using the original Type Certificate (TC), updating the customer aircraft’s technical documentation, and even up until the last delivery of the kits and SBs to the customer, and as well the last working party.
Airbus Customer Services has set up a dedicated project with a team of experts ready to provide airlines with more details as they plan to upgrade their A350 fleets and thereby enhance their assets’ operational value and passenger appeal.
Airbus is also increasing its internal capacities within retrofit Engineering and Programme’s management. Suppliers have already been informed and Airbus is reviewing the industrial capacity and competitiveness of the supply chain. In addition, Airbus is studying potential partnerships with third-party aftermarket providers to develop complementary offerings to meet customer expectations.