whiteknight wrote on Sep 7^th, 2026 at 7:19am:



My cousin was a senior maintenance engineer with Qantas. Some years ago after Joyce took over it was decided to outsource maintenance to foreign companies. My cousin was one of those sent to examine the work of these companies and report back.

He told me that he was with a company in, I think, Singapore. A  technician was given the task of checking the bolts that hold the flight deck windows in place. A simple task that a first year apprentice could perform but an important one nonetheless.  The technician reported back that the task was complete.  My cousin said bullshit because the task could not possibly have been completed in that short amount of time.  Turns out that procedure in this company was to check every third bolt, not every bolt as the Qantas standards required. 

Now this  was acceptable practice within the manufacturers guidelines,  however Qantas was then known for standards well superior to acceptable  practice. This company got the contract against the advice of my cousin and his colleagues and here we are today.

I sometimes wonder where and how often, these planes are serviced.  Yet again another Qantas plane.    

Heavy Maintenance

Heavy maintenance happens every 18 months to six years depending on the aircraft type and age.

The C Check

Happens every 18 months to two years (depending on type of aircraft) and takes three weeks. We recently took the opportunity when a number of our A330s were undergoing C Checks to upgrade the cabin interior at our Heavy Maintenance Base in Brisbane. The same thing is happening with some of our B737s.

The D Check

This is also known as a C4 or C8 check depending on the aircraft type. This check is performed every six years and the entire aircraft is basically dismantled and put back together. Everything in the cabin is taken out (seats, toilets, galleys, overhead bins) so engineers can inspect the metal skin of the aircraft, inside out. The engines are taken off.