Air New Zealand in the thick of it

Following the cancellation of 509 flights, Air New Zealand’s international and domestic network was back up and running on 15 February. Flying into heavily impacted regions New Plymouth, Napier and Gisborne had also resumed with some minor disruptions as the airline worked through operationalising the routes.

Following the increased wind gusts in the afternoon of 14 February, the airline was forced to halt its domestic and international operations out of Auckland, resulting in a further 300 cancelled services.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said at the time that the gusts on 14 February set back the airline’s recovery from the initial cancellations, the network was largely operating as usual again the following day.

“With aircraft and crew displaced around the network, our morning operations were a little bumpy. But [we were able to get] back in the swing of things and are completely focused on customer recovery,” she said.

“We got halfway there [on 14 February] with our restart but, as we have throughout the recent weather events, we put safety first. It’s the right thing to do – every time.

“To have the airline operating largely as normal is no small feat. We had to divert nine services to other ports like Christchurch and Nadi, rework our schedule to allow for the planes and crew we had out of place, bring a large proportion of turboprops back out of storage and then work to rebook and look after those who have been disrupted.

“I’m continually amazed by the resilience of our Air New Zealand whanau – it has been one of the toughest periods in our history and they have put everything on the line to help keep the business running and our customers flying. A huge thank you to them and our customers who have been incredibly patient and understanding.

“We’re deeply saddened by the ongoing impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on those affected regions, particularly Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

“We’re ready and waiting to support the national state of emergency response and are talking to affected communities about how we can help. We’re also supporting our own people who are still badly affected by the terrible weather. We will continue to monitor the situation and support wherever we can.”

Air New Zealand, in coordination with government agencies, deployed a special assistance flight, carrying communication support, emergency supplies and airport operational staff into Gisborne. Their hope was to assess and secure the reopening of the Gisborne airport to reconnect the region with much-needed support and supplies.

On top of the disruption, the airline had a total of 821 cancelled flights and 49,000 impacted customers since Cyclone Gabrielle began.

“We’ve again turned our focus to rebooking disrupted customers, with a focus on our 6,500 international customers impacted from [14 February]’s cancellations. We’re looking at where the areas of greatest need are and will be adding services and changing to larger aircraft where possible,” Ms Geraghty said.

The airline added extra services to Nadi, Tahiti, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Apia to its international network as well as additional domestic services between Christchurch and Auckland to recover passengers that were diverted south. Extra flights to North America were also being explored.

Following the special assistance flight to Gisborne, Air New Zealand began operating nine daily flights into and out of Gisborne.

Although a slightly reduced schedule, they operated around 18 services per day to Napier except on Saturday when they had 14 flights.

To further support its regional teams, Air New Zealand deployed its Emergency Response Special Assistance Team (SAT). These are appointed airline staff from across several of its ports who’ve trained and volunteered for emergencies like this. The SAT team provides additional care and support to pilots, cabin crew, airport staff or anyone on the ground in impacted regions who need it.

“We’re immensely grateful that all our staff are accounted for however, we know that even though they are safe, some have experienced significant losses,” Ms Geraghty said.

“To our staff on the SAT team who are providing our impacted colleagues with invaluable support during this difficult time, thank you. This is a huge part of how we demonstrate manaaki for one another.”

Additionally, Air New Zealand added a new temporary service between Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, with the direct service operating Sunday to Friday, and in addition to the airline’s existing services. The demands of operating Air New Zealand’s existing routes out of Gisborne and Napier mean that this service was limited to a daily operation and made possible because of the current need to reposition an aircraft overnight in Hawke’s Bay.

These flights were only available between 26 February to 25 March.