Air New Zealand has made the decision to pause the nonstop Auckland to Chicago route for seven months amid ongoing engine issues.
Air New Zealand will pause the service from 31 March to 25 October 2024, with customers being able to rebook on other services, receive a credit or a refund.
The pause comes amid global issues with an engine used on Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787 aircraft, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine.
Air New Zealand said the engines normally require "heavy maintenance" which requires the engines to be taken out of the aircraft and sent offshore for inspections every 1000 take-offs and landings. During regular inspections, Air New Zealand engineers identified that the engines required maintenance after 750-850 take-off and landing cycles.
Air New Zealand said in a statement spare or replacement engines were unable to be provided to the airline, "leading to a reduction in the amount of flying Air New Zealand can deliver via its 787 fleet."
Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the decision to pause the flight route was difficult, "but one that results in the least number of customers impacted".
"We know this will be disappointing for customers travelling to and from Chicago during this period, especially to those travelling over the upcoming April holiday break. It’s not a decision we’ve made lightly and we’re sorry to make this change so close to the time some customers plan to fly.
“Unfortunately, Air New Zealand continues to be impacted by challenges with availability of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, meaning we will now have up to three aircraft unavailable for an extended period, so we’ve had to review our schedule."
Geraghty has pointed out there are up to 35 flights a week to different US and Canadian cities.
"We made the tough decision to temporarily pause the Chicago route while maintaining our schedule of up to 35 flights each week to six ports across the US and Canada, so there are still plenty of options to get to Chicago, the US, and beyond."
Geraghty said the engines issues "do not present a safety risk to customers flying on our 787 fleet".
"Getting our customers to their destination safely is our number one priority and to do that, we need to ensure our aircraft and engines are maintained to the highest standard."
Air New Zealand's ongoing engine issues
Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines have been the cause of a myriad of plane delays, first reported in April 2018, which saw 6500 passengers disrupted.
Later that month, a further 9000 Air New Zealand passengers had their flight times changed, or cancelled outright.
The following November, 14,000 customers had flights cancelled over the Christmas season in what Air New Zealand called "unavoidable," with multiple routes cancelled.
At the time, Air New Zealand Captain Dave Wilson said the company had been doing all it could to fast-track required maintenance from Rolls-Royce.
“We have 14 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in our fleet and four spare engines to power these. However, all these spare engines are with Rolls Royce offshore either undergoing service or waiting for a service slot.”
Last year Air New Zealand had similar issues with its Pratt and Whitney engines, which saw 600 to 700 engines impacted globally, and 16 Air NZ planes.
At the time, the airline said: “This issue will further reduce engine availability and is expected to have a significant impact on the airline’s schedule from January 2024.”
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said from November last year, approximately 330,000 customers would be affected "over the next six months."
Those issues saw flights between Auckland and Hobart paused from April 5, 2024, and flights between Auckland and Seoul paused from April 1, 2024.
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