Air New Zealand launched its service to New York. Is the airline just unlucky or is the route too ambitious?
The fourth-longest route in the world is the Air New Zealand route from Auckland to New York. The flight from the west to the east is longer than the one from the east. This is a very long journey since the flight to New Zealand is blocked at 17 hours 35 minutes.
The idea of New Zealand being connected to New York is an incredibly convenient option for travelers. Is Air New Zealand able to operate this route reliably and economically?
The range of Air New Zealand's 787-9s has been pushed by this flight. Air New Zealand is said to be having to block economy seats on the east and west flights. Even that isn't enough according to the person.
Dozens of checked bags had to be off loaded on the first flight from New York to New Zealand. The airline blamed the weather for the problem.
It's frustrating if you pay extra for a nonstop flight only to find that your bags aren't loaded because of a weight restriction I can't help but wonder if passengers had to wait two or three days for their bags, or if they were diverted to another airport, which increases the odds of a delay.
On the third flight from New York to New Zealand, the airline had planned a fuel stop. An Air New Zealand official claimed that the winds the airline was experiencing were stronger than a year's worth of modeling and other data. The standard contingency plan for the airline will be a refuel in Nadi.
“Refuelling in Nadi is our standard contingency plan for these circumstances and has also been used in previous years for other routes on our network. While these sorts of headwinds are very rare, they do happen, and we’ve planned for it.”
The service ended up operating nonstop in a flight time of 17 hours and 17 minutes, despite the fact that all passengers had been told of the fuel stop.
I can't help but wonder if Air New Zealand will be able to succeed with this route. The economics of a route like this are even more difficult because the airline is having to block a lot of seats.
Managing customer expectations is one of the issues. Passengers won't be happy if their bags don't make flights because of weight restrictions For those with connections beyond Auckland, a fuel stop in Nadi isn't that big of a deal.
This situation is going to be interesting to watch. According to Air New Zealand, the wind situation is worse than they could have predicted. It will only be a matter of time before these issues stop. The timing of the launch may have been unlucky for the airline.
The situation will be solved by Air New Zealand introducing a new business class product. The weight of the plane should be reduced because of the airline's plan to make its Boeing 787-9s more premium with more business class seats.
Qantas will be launching a New York to New Zealand flight in June of 2023. I think Qantas will have fewer issues with operational reliability because they have a less dense configuration of their planes. It makes a big difference on this route.
Air New Zealand has been to New York. Several dozen bags were off loaded on the first flight and the third flight had a fuel stop planned but didn't need it.
Air New Zealand says the conditions have been worse than predicted.
What do you think about Air New Zealand?
All Rights Reserved © 2024
