Qantas has been working overtime to get its grounded fleets back in the skies

Qantas is in overdrive as it reassembles its fleet in time for the return of interstate and international travel, battling lockdowns, border closures and rattlesnakes.

Engineers Timothy Simmons and Sian Barrell in hangar 96 at Sydney airport, with the A380 that recently returned from overseas. Picture: John Feder

As loved-ones mark tearful re­unions at arrivals gates across the ­nation, a family of a different kind is being made whole again in the hangars and on the distant tarmacs of Sydney Airport.

Hangar 96 has been a hive of activity, with a team of specialist engineers working around the clock to bring the pride of the Qantas fleet, an A380 superjumbo named Hudson Fysh, back online.

The first of the national airline’s 12 double-decker Airbuses landed back in Sydney in November after spending more than 500 days in deep storage in the dry, low-humidity Mojave Desert near Los Angeles – where rattlesnakes took up accommodation in the giant wheel wells and around the warm rubber tyres.

Ground crews based in LA had to arm themselves with “wheel whackers” – modified brooms – to wake and scare off the resident reptiles as they did their weekly maintenance checks on the aircraft.

Now snake-free after a full landing gear replacement in Dresden, Germany, the jet is instead watched over by a family of falcons that has made its home in the hangar rafters, as the plane undergoes a full interior makeover, with new seats and in-flight entertainment systems.

Engineering boss Scott McConnell said it would take his team 4500 hours of effort, or the equivalent of four to six weeks, to complete the repairs needed to get the jet back into the skies.

“We made the decision to bring an aircraft back on shore to help with our training and readiness for the restart of the A380s,” he said.

Engineering boss Scott McConnell in hanger 96, with the A380 that recently returned from overseas. Picture: John Feder

Aircraft engineers Sian Barrell and Timothy Simmons are just two members of a larger team tasked with conducting regular engine checks, which involve opening the casing housing the massive turbofans to clean filters and perform routine inspections.

“It’s really great for the whole team to be getting back to business as usual,” said Ms Barrell, who has been a Qantas engineer for 11 years.

Qantas veteran of 32 years and Sydney engineering manager Jason Bird agreed the excitement at having the jet back was infectious, transforming routine jobs, like powering up the engines every three days, into a novelty.

“We’re so excited to have her back here, especially after such a difficult few months,” he said.

It follows the return of the domestic A330 fleet, which was “woken up” in June, shortly before the Delta outbreak dashed hopes of the industry making a full ­recovery this year.

Qantas resumed flights between Australia and the US and the UK on November 1, with Singapore following on Monday.

Flights to Delhi will resume on December 6, and to Fiji on ­December 11.