It was the end of an era on Saturday, when Qantas operated the final flight of the Boeing 717.
During the day, VH-YQS (Great Otway National Park) had operated services between Sydney, Launceston and Canberra. It made its final flight from Sydney to Canberra, arriving into the capital city around 6pm. It is now expected to spend a few weeks in Canberra before heading off for retirement.
A brief history of the Boeing 717
The Boeing 717 didn’t start off as a Boeing. Designed originally by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95, it was essentially a shortened version of the MD-90. Following the merger of McDonnell Douglas with Boeing in the late 1990s, the aircraft was renamed the Boeing 717.
In 2000, Impulse Airlines became the first operator of the 717 in Australia. Qantas acquired Impulse in 2001 and then operated the aircraft under the QantasLink banner.
Jetstar launched in May 2004, initially operating 14 of the 717 aircraft. As Jetstar acquired its fleet of A320 aircraft, they moved the 717 aircraft back to QantasLink.
Up until 2013, QantasLink operated the Boeing 717 in an all Economy layout. Starting in 2013, Qantas installed Business cabins in some of the fleet, and these aircraft operated on some capital city routes. For example, they operated on services between Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart.
Overall, the Boeing 717 has been operating in Australian skies for over 20 years. Being a small jet, seating about 100 passengers, that have been able to operate on short and medium sectors into smaller regional centres that have not been able to take the 737 or larger aircraft. As such, they found a niche in regional Australia.
At one point, QantasLink operated 20 of the aircraft. However, Qantas have been slowly replacing them with the newer Airbus 220 aircraft (which itself wasn’t originally an Airbus).
Qantas were the one of the last three operators of the Boeing 717. There are just two airlines left – Delta and Hawaiian, – both US based. It is likely that Delta will be the next airline to retire its Boeing 717 fleet. That will leave Hawaiian as the only operator, and to my knowledge have yet to select a replacement aircraft.
Onward to the A220
As previously noted, Qantas are replacing the Boeing 717 with the Airbus A220. There are currently four A220s flying for QantasLink with the next scheduled to enter into service by the end of the year.
While the Boeing 717 was a solid performer, the Airbus is bringing a number of new features and improvements to the skies
- 137 passengers across two cabins, with 10 Business seats in a 2-2 configuration and 127 seats in Economy in a 2-3 configuration.
- The largest windows of any single aisle aircraft and a cabin with a greater sense of space.
- Fast, free Wi-Fi, allowing customers to stay connected, as well as the improved Qantas Entertainment App for streaming content to their own device.
- An integrated personal device holder and USB A and C charging in both Economy and Business; additional wireless charging pad in Business.
- More comfortable Economy seat with extra padding compared with the 717.
- Around 20 per cent more overhead locker space for all customers.
- Reduction in noise footprint of up to 50 per cent and reduction in carbon emissions of 25 per cent per seat compared with the aircraft it’s replacing.