An aviation expert has outlined some of the issues Air New Zealand and customers may face, with 17 of its planes set to be inspected for microscopic cracks in its engines’ fans.
In July, manufacturer Pratt and Whitney announced that up to 700 aircraft with its engines around the world would need to be inspected.
Air NZ said its 17 A320 and 321 NEO aircraft, which mainly service Australia and the Pacific, will be affected.
It means possible delays and disruptions for the next two years, with chief executive Greg Foran saying some international flights would be moved to either side of their original date.
Its Hobart and Seoul routes would be paused next year.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, aviation commentator Irene King said it could be a difficult couple of years for the airline.
She said Air NZ already have a team that’s “experienced in rescheduling, for obvious reasons”.
“But what happens if there's another layer of disruption, they’ve got no slack in the system anymore.
“So if we have some disruptions over a peak period, that can turn pretty savage pretty quick.”
She said that as Air NZ monitors the situation, it will be “very conscious of the reputational damage” that comes with issues and delays.
King thinks “compounding problems around Christmas” are likely to be the biggest issue for Air New Zealand.
“It’s really those customers that have to be rescheduled on reduced capacity because, remember, they are going to take quite a number of services out, and they’re terminating some services altogether.”
She said Air NZ will need to plan ahead should delays start getting worse – so that customers are fully informed about the issues.
“When things get really tight around Christmas time, when you’ve got high volumes, and you’ve got less capacity to shift people, and you’ve got less flexibility in your fleet to bring in and replace an aircraft – that’s when it’s going to get tricky.
“We don’t wanna wait four or five hours on telephones to get answers, so they’ve gotta use different forms of technology to communicate with the customers – communicate proactively.
“They will know then they have a problem, and they have to put resources into addressing proactively with the customer the solutions.
“None of this sitting back, waiting for customers to contact you.”
For travellers, King recommended people “book early and give yourself some flexibility.”
She also asked people to “stay calm” and remain patient should any issues around scheduling arise.
“Just stay calm, the airline has you in their system. You may not like the system, but they have you there.
“They know that they have an obligation to get you to where you booked.”
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