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Air New Zealand believes it may soon see a resolution to a storm of supplier issues that have delayed new additions to its fleet and grounded its aircraft.
Speaking to Australian Aviation in Auckland this week, chief executive Greg Foran said he is “increasingly optimistic” that Pratt & Whitney, which makes the trouble-plagued PW1100G-JM engines on Air New Zealand’s A320/21neo aircraft, will soon work through its maintenance problems.
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“What I can see is that we’ve hit the bottom of the cycle in terms of where we’re at,” he said.
“Pratt & Whitney, for example: we’ve currently got six aircraft on the ground, because they haven’t got Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines – that soon goes down to five, to four, to three, to two, progressively.
“That’s going to get a lot of seats back in the air, flying. A lot of customers are then going to be able to experience the A321s, and it’s going to allow us to get back on some new routes.”
The airline has also been hit by multiple delays for its new fleet of 787-9 Dreamliners, which will feature its new Skynest sleeping pods and are now expected to arrive next year.
“In terms of Boeing, we’re just about to get on the production line for the first two 787-9s, so we’ve got line fit numbers,” Foran said.
“We’re expecting those planes to be delivered March-April next year, so in the next few months, they’ll actually physically start building those planes. We’ve got an order for another six after those two, and they’ll flow through over the next two to three years.”
Foran conceded, however, that the airline is “still wrestling with” Rolls-Royce, whose Trent 1000 engines power its existing Dreamliners and have also experienced maintenance issues. Up to six narrow-body and five wide-body jets have been out of service at any one time.
“When I talk to Rolls, they’re very comfortable that they are starting to see some progress,” he said.
“I’m less comfortable that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that [would] give me confidence that the four to five aircraft on ground I’m currently experiencing on the 787 [would] start to reduce incrementally.
“But I don’t think it gets worse, and I’m hoping that over the next few months, just like I’ve seen with Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce turn the corner and we start to get some engines back.”
The airline has received NZ$94 million in compensation from Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney for the ongoing issues. Foran earlier this year estimated that earnings would have been $40 million higher had it been able to operate all its aircraft as intended.
“While compensation has played an important role in offsetting some of the financial impact of the delays, it falls well short of making the airline whole for the operational and economic losses sustained,” he said in February.
“We strive to deliver a reliable experience for our customers; however, with four percent less capacity available largely due to the engine maintenance delays, this has been a real challenge for the airline.”
The Kiwi carrier posted a net post-tax profit of NZ$106 million for the first half of the 2025 financial year off the back of NZ$155 million in pre-tax earnings, towards the upper end of its guidance from November 2024.
The reporter travelled as a guest of Air New Zealand.
