Air France A380 grounded for fourth time

Yes I accept that an airline would dead leg an aircraft if it were going to somewhere not in its route structure for maintenance, but you would never ever send an aircraft off down route knowing planned base maintenance was due before it was scheduled back to base. Which is what AF suggested they were doing.
The check cycles are flying hour, flight cycle, landings or calendar life controlled so its not difficult to plan an input at the right time.
The situation I can think of when an aircraft had to be brought home empty was when it had a defect, temporary repair for example or ferried home with an engine shut down, that was outside the dispatch manual limits therefore precluding the carriage of passengers.

Richard

Airlines routinely ferry aircraft across the Alantic and Pacific for maintence. How would an airline get their aircraft to HAECO in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi Technoligies in the UAE or Marshall in the UK for maintence, if they don’t have regular flights there?

Air France spokeswoman said, confirming that the A380 turned back to New York on Monday morning and was grounded there.

The plane had no passengers on board at the time and was returning to Paris for servicing, she added.
Source: AFP

I cannot believe it was being ferried, empty, all the way from New York to Paris just for planned servicing, no airline would do that. I suspect it had a defect that precluded it carrying pax and was being ferried home to be fixed, but the snag meant a return to NY.

Richard

This could easily be something as simple as AF are doing wrong.

Quite so.

It could even be down to a third party, such as a ground handling company.

Perhaps they will. There is a little engine that runs to charge the batteries.
I would quite like to buy a Volt provided they’re not stupidly expensive.

Good God, not fuelling again.
I wonder if the new Chevrolet Volt (a new GM electric car)….will suffer likewise.

I’m sure it will, cars can be difficult, just ask Toyota.
However, I’ll confidently predict any problems with the Volt will not be fuel related.:D

Agreed.
For the record, I was not pointing the finger at Airbus.
This could easily be something as simple as AF are doing wrong.

It could quite easily be a third-party or user unfamiliarity issue, especially with a new aircraft.

Whatever the cause, it certainly needs looking into.

Doesn’t the regularity of the fueling issue go beyond “Teething”? Seems to me there is a genuine issue that needs looked at.

Perhaps it does, yes.

Doesn’t the regularity of the fueling issue go beyond “Teething”? Seems to me there is a genuine issue that needs looked at.

Good God, not fuelling again.
I reckon, as I’ve said before, that the A380 is suffering a number of new-technology teething problems.
I wonder if the new Chevrolet Volt (a new GM electric car that, one might argue, is the automotive equivalent of the A380 from a new-technology viewpoint) will suffer likewise.