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Why Converting Passenger Planes To Cargo Jets Costs Millions
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- Published on Oct 1, 2023 veröffentlicht
- With the demand for converting retired passenger planes into cargo haulers surging, this lucrative trend allows these older jets to serve a new mission, transporting goods ranging from produce to pharmaceuticals worldwide. Despite the high cost of over $30 million per plane, the business of converting planes remains in high demand, with conversion slots sold out for several years.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Increase in demand
04:09 - How it works
05:47 - Cargo outlook
Produced by: Leslie Josephs
Edited by: Liam Mays
Additional Camera: Tim Fadek
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Senior Producer - Post Production: Erin Black
Additional Footage: Amazon, Jim Wilson Photography, Getty Images, Boeing
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Why Converting Passenger Planes To Cargo Jets Costs Millions
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Summary: It costs millions because it's an elaborate job that takes several months involving stripping down the internals, reinforcing the floors, and getting the aircraft recertified.
Yeah... Poorly edited and unnecessarily stretched video...8 min felt like more than an hour
Godspeed my friend
@MegaArvind111 got to do it for the ad revenue
Looks like the person that wrote that narrative was paid by the number of words. And maybe the length of the video, unnecessary too long.
@zyzz there's no ad revenue if people don't watch. I am increasingly finding myself clicking away from videos with catchy titles because they fail to deliver within the first minute.
Here in the UK I believe that some smaller planes (don't think any that would be used on transatlantic routes) get used as both passenger and cargo planes. During the night all the seats get removed for the use of mail transportation (don't know if any get used for other types of cargo). The seats get replaced in the morning when it gets used for passengers during the day
Convertable planes exist up to some based quite large jets.
But they generally have to be built new and certified that way, and because they're fitted out for both jobs, they're never quite as efficient in either category as a dedicated passenger or cargo version would be.
Let's make a video about converting passenger planes to cargo planes! - Great idea! Show as many CEOs and VPs as you can, and as little of the actual work done on the plane as you can. This video will be a hit!
#2.5k👍👏It just makes sense that rehabilitating a still usable aircraft versus the larger cost of buying a new dedicated freighter. Glad to see Boeing is doing it too!! This is recycling on a great scale! This is something that could be done with military transports instead of parking them in the bone yard!!
Interesting, but I'd like to have seen more about the individual things that need to be done.
I used to build 747's, and others, including experimental aircraft.
This seemed more as an advertisement to find people thinking of wanting a conversation or thinking of getting into do conversations.
Sadly it wasn't all that good for that either.
But it was interesting.
Exactly the script looked more like a school project written by a teenager .
90% of the video was about numbers why passenger jets are being converted with almost nothing being devoted to the engineering and the details of why it takes months.
F-. Can do better.
Once I heard they had to sweep out the plane of pistachio shells. I stopped asking why it cost 30 million.
Because it is organic pistachio😊
Don't underestimate groundnut shells too.
I think it would be a great cost saving move for cargo companies like FedEx and UPS to utilize this refurbished airplanes since then the companies don’t have to buy as many new airplanes for their cargo operations….I bet a new cargo airplane would cost almost double of what a refurbished airplane cost
They do operate pax converted airplanes.
The reason why they rather convert one is because its easier and cheaper to convert a passenger plane to a cargo one than to order a new one from the manufacturer that will take years to build from then initial order. But if you have a surplus of perfectly good planes with spare parts, you will save millions
With current airline accommodations (or lack thereof) it feels like the customers are treated like cargo these days
I present the standing passenger seat
Just load human into a light weight container in a supine position and you can stack them horizontally all the way to the ceiling. You can put them to coma and can fly depressurized. More profit!!
More like a pack of sardines than cargo....
I've heard a lot of horror stories about the service/incidents, mostly from US based airlines, where flying is treated more like a ride on the bus.
Airlines are the only industry we spend thousands of dollars with for an experience that’s just barely tolerable.
It is better to design and build the passenger planes so that they can be more easily converted into cargo planes in the end of their work life as passenger planes which will make converting them into cargo planes easier, faster and cheaper.
Indeed.
No...optimizing for passengers vs cargo are very different things. Try designing a mini-van for a soccer mom, and ask her she needs to pay more because of the added engineering need to plan to have it converted to a moving van 10-20 yrs later after initial purchase.
You couldn’t be more wrong. All that extra weight of reinforcing the structure, and the cargo door adds a whole lot of extra weight to carry around for a possible ‘future’ refit. That extra weight reduces the payload you can carry and it is payload that pays the bills. Even if the plane isn’t near max takeoff weight, the more the plane weighs, the harder the engines have to work and the more fuel you need to burn to do it. Profit margins are minuscule in this game.
@emma kai You got my point very wrong my friend, I did not mean converting the plane from the very first, I meant making it more easy to convert when the work life of the plane as a passenger plane ends which of course should still be optimized as a passenger plane when it starts its work as a passenger carrier. The main converting is when it ends its passenger carrier life and starts as a cargo plane.
@Rachel S You got my point very wrong my friend, I did not mean converting the plane from the very first, I meant making it more easy to convert when the work life of the plane as a passenger plane ends which of course should still be optimized as a passenger plane when it starts its work as a passenger carrier. The main converting is when it ends its passenger carrier life and starts as a cargo plane.
What a damn good idea we need more jets for transporting cargo
IF 4 diesel-piston engine-casings(maybe 12 engines as shaft mounting-locking) with 8 propellers, planes with regional air-worthiness recognition are less than that price... but not for the west... is a possibility
Pilots paid bus-driver plus one with toilet and kitchenette-galley. Cargo urgency-range schedule 24x-hours
300kmh or 300mph pricing.?
Sea-knots and Air-knots specifications are more expensive.
No end in sight for the demand. Consumers keep consuming and want delivery asap
That’s the thing N710DN wasn’t old it was only a little over 7yr old! Delta was just in a rush to get a slimmed up fleet!
777's are not that old. How could they be retired already?!
that particular unit is 15 y/o. former cathay pacific B-KPB and nordwind VP-BJP. a/c seized by lessor when the ukraine war began
The 777 is a 30 year old program
Newer widebody aircraft have better passenger comfort and are more fuel efficient. Neither of those matter for cargo. Cargo makes good money so fuel efficiency isn't that big of a factor.
I flew Emirates airlines in 1999 from Dubai to Singapore and it was Boeing 777.
The very first 777s went into service in 1995. Yes they are (well the early ones anyway) that old.
technicians labor: 100k
management fee: 29.9 mil
You've got inside knowledge?
It would be great for the air cargo companies to use more converted aircraft except IF THEY ARE ABLE TO HIRE ENOUGH PILOTS DESPITE THE SHORTAGE
why not if transpoting cargo generates revenue in billions?
Climate
Infosys plays a crucial role in these conversions. My brother is at Infosys Texas and works on the same project.
I'm surprised they decided to do it in Dallas instead of flying these aircrafts overseas and get it done there for cheap labor
Bedek In Israel has done a lot of conversions. Watching them converting a disused 747-400 was interesting...
I am guessing if they wanted to ship more jobs over seas for cheaper labor it be done so already but they are trying to keep jobs here as much as possible or it by chance cost more to fly planes back and forth anytime. so im guessing there is alot of details they gotta consider before they send jobs over seas anytime. some or many jobs are overseas for any reason but we are trying to keep jobs here to keep us busy till we cant work no more for any reason.
It’s mostly likely skill
Probably fuel costs
They do these conversions all over the globe
Some questions are unanswered, what happens to the windows?
During Covid, cargo made a lotta sense but rt now I’ll bet passengers give more bang for the buck. Plane tickets r so expensive 😅
The high cost is because large companies and government agencies love to waste money
This video was very representative. The first few minutes were essential the meat of the video.
Awesome video as usual
Or they are preparing for something crazy and are creating more room for people to get in .. in case of emergency 😅
I’d love to work on these all day. Big aircraft are awesome
We’re hiring!
I really don't understand why they use passenger planes for cargo. The wing placement is designed for passenger comfort. For a cargo craft, wings on top of the craft would be more economical, they could operate at more airports, and it would be easier to load.
Simple cost, a converted passenger plane cost around 40-60million, a new freighter will be closer to 250_300million.
Its just far more economical to do conversions than to buy new
@Kevin Smith First Class seating, of course.
Because purchasing a brand new aircraft will cost hundreds of millions of dollars on top of the already year long waiting list to get new orders in Boeing and Airbus books, while converting a passenger air raft in order to carry freight will cost a fraction of the price of a new plane and will only be out if service for a comparatively short time.
Over the wing design is only good for oversize cargo. But that comes at the cost of maintenance is way harder to take care of. Plus you would have basically have to have a miltary aircraft which are never designed for economics and FAA certification.
Consultant fee 29 million😂
That's a huge problem with this country. People just making BS fees up
I'll only charge 31 million in consultation fees, but I will hire you for $225,000 to consult for me in my consultation for you.
A lot of times a "consultant" is just a contracted worker from an agency. They can easily pick them up and kick them off as demand rises or falls. They save a lot of money and issues.
No consultants required. Its a crank the handle conversion which just takes time.
Excuse my ignorance, but why doesn't the cargo companies just purchase the cargo aircraft that the u.s. military uses. The ramp and back doors seem so much better than having to lift your cargo by forklift.
Thank you for enlightening us with this knowledge!
Oh, Amazon meeds to deliver junk to American public. Wonderful.
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What about the stress in the fuselage
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maybe because the cost of a new plane is probably 5-10 times as much...
But isnt these passenger plane after decade of flight also begin to suffer from metal fatique?
So - remove seats, reinforce floor, make a big door. This could have been a "short". And should have been.
Solution: foldable seatss
This is part of the reason nobody is listening to the "5-day work week" dinosaurs, people already got use to hybrid work and companies already invested into remote working, these planes being converted into cargo haulers reflect this..
Do they refurbish turbines/electronics
And those old worn out seats have been purchased and reused by United Airlines
Some rich people turn these into private planes
Don't show CEOs if they're only going to spout fluff. If the C suite isn't going to say anything of substance, show us more of the nitty gritty job
Knew a guy while stationed in Germany who had his wife's two horses flown to the states.
It cost him around $10,000.00. And this was in the early 90's.
Don't care about the why, just get to the how.
Slava Ukraini! Support Ukraine!
This is a smart repurposing of existing products.
Good place to invest in, wars requires fast supply access
Dreamliner is Nightmareliner
nice
who wrote up this report? i feel like they repeated the same point 3 times, like wut...
It only cost millions in America 😂😂😂
Somewhere in the world they're still flying DC-3s and B707 aircrafts . Wonder what they're using for fuel ?
Cooking oil
DC-3 run an Avgas-ll-100 still plenty around for GA aircraft. Getting expensive though so many DC-3 are being converted to Turboprops which run on JetA1. B707 are gone but if they were not then they would run on JetA as well.
Florida air cargo still use two DC3s
And increasing the end price of your purchases.
All fun and games till the outdated design and engine shake your house in bed while your sleeping at 4:30am
Oh really? So people flying is bad for the environment that's why we'll fly groceries???
Groceries aren't really viable and expensive enough to fly them)
3:34 Tate hand symbol
Cheaper than a new plane.
Ang quicker.
Such misleading information! It does NOT cost 30 Million to convert passenger to Cargo! It’s more like $25-30 million buying and converting. Not 30 million to just convert but of course idiots write these segments
not since 9/11
Costs nothingvas all u do is get people to dismantled the interior aircraft
This is also why they are more likely to crash. My cousin died in an Amazon plane that was converted.
Hope your not taking about the one that crashed in Texas. That was 100 percent pilot error with a pilot that should of never been flying in the first place. He had lied about his hours and previous employment
O rly?
oh well.
Such a repetitive opening 4+ minutes. Suggest starting at 4:40
¹a¹
Every Dollar is worth it.
Once I heard they had to sweep out the plane of pistachio shells, I stopped questioning why it cost 30 million. 🥜💰
Boeing is a joke of a company now