Qantas Plans Major Boeing 737 Cabin Overhaul Amid Supply Chain Delays

Qantas has announced it will undertake a cabin refit of most of its Boeing 737-800s, which will update this fleet until a narrowbody replacement program can be completed.

The airline plans to give 42 of its 75 737s a full cabin overhaul, including new business-class and economy seats, larger lockers and new carpets, sidewalls and lighting. The remaining aircraft will also receive improvements.

The first of the refurbished aircraft is due to reenter service in 2027. The carrier told Aviation Week that it is “still in the design phase of the cabin refit program and [we] are yet to confirm who will complete the refit and what seats will be used.”

In parallel, Qantas is about to start the lengthy process of replacing its 737s with Airbus A321XLRs. The 42 aircraft that will receive the full overhaul are its newer 737s, and are not due to be phased out until the latter part of the replacement program.

Qantas has so far placed firm orders for 28 A321XLRs, with purchase rights in place for far more. These will progressively replace the 737s over about a decade.

The first of the A321XLRs entered final assembly in November, and has been painted. It was due to be delivered in April, but is now expected to arrive in June.

Another six are due to be delivered during Qantas’ fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1. The previous delivery estimate, released in August 2024, predicted that a total of 10 would arrive by the end of fiscal 2026.

In an investor presentation on Feb. 27, Qantas noted that the aircraft production process continues to be challenged by supply chain disruption—including to seat suppliers—and as a result the group is “incurring minor aircraft delivery delays.”

The carrier has also begun the replacement of its 717 fleet with A220s. So far five A220s have entered service, and the carrier expects to have a total of 13 by the end of fiscal 2026.

Qantas also provided an update on its widebody fleet. The carrier still has two A380s yet to return to service after being parked during the COVID-19 crisis. One is expected to return around the middle of calendar year 2025, and the other by the end of the year.

The next new-delivery widebody to arrive is likely to be the first of the customized A350-1000s designed for the Project Sunrise long-range flights.

The initial aircraft is due to enter the final assembly stage in September 2025, with delivery expected in the second half of 2026. The carrier is “starting to think about training our crew and our pilots" for the ultra-long-range flights, Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said during a media briefing.

After training flights have been conducted on the new aircraft, Qantas expects Project Sunrise to begin commercial service in 2027. The carrier is aiming to launch record-breaking flights from Sydney to London and New York.

Hudson said that production of the long-range variants of the A350-1000 appears to be proceeding as expected. “We still feel pretty confident that Airbus has maintained the schedule” it committed to, she said.

The airline’s fleet update was presented in conjunction with its financial report for the six months through Dec. 31, which was its fiscal first half.

The Qantas group reported a net profit of A$923 million ($582 million) for the half, an increase of 6% over the same period a year earlier. The group announced it will pay dividends to shareholders for the first time since fiscal 2019.

Group capacity is projected to increase by 8% year-on-year for the second half of fiscal 2025, with international up 12% and domestic up 2%. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, group capacity is forecast to be up 8%, comprising an 11% increase for international and 4% for domestic.