Air New Zealand says it is “deeply disappointed” at having to make yet more schedule changes and cancellations over the crucial summer holiday peak season, after Rolls-Royce contacted it over an engine maintenance issue.
The airline told its frequent flyers yesterday: “Like many other airlines around the world, for the past couple of years we’ve been managing challenges with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
“We thought these issues were almost behind us, however Rolls-Royce has informed us that our newer Trent 1000 TEN engines also require maintenance earlier than expected. Alongside this, Rolls-Royce has told us it doesn’t have the capacity to do this maintenance work quickly, as we are just one of many airlines affected globally.”
The airline’s Senior Fleet Manager 787 Captain Dave Wilson delivers more information on the issue in this video:
Air NZ says most of the changes are confined to Perth flights “and we estimate around 14,000 customers will be impacted by cancellations. Flights within New Zealand will not be affected.
“We are deeply disappointed to be in this position again, but safety is paramount and non-negotiable.”
The airline issued a statement confirming that Rolls-Royce required operators of its Trent 1000 TEN model engines to carry out more frequent maintenance due to an issue with the engine’s high-pressure turbine blades.
“Rolls-Royce does not have any replacement engines available while maintenance work is undertaken and has advised Air New Zealand there’s significant wait for repair services.
“Air New Zealand has 10 Trent 1000 TEN engines fitted to its 787-9 fleet and has been working to minimise disruption but schedule changes are now unavoidable. Further changes may also be required as the airline progresses the engine checks.
“The most substantive of changes announced today is the suspension of its twice-weekly seasonal Christchurch-Perth service, resulting in the cancellation of 62 flights.
“The airline will also cancel its second daily Auckland-Perth service from 10 December 2019 until 5 January 2020. The airline will continue to operate its 11:10am Auckland-Perth and 6:50pm Perth-Auckland services as scheduled.
Outside the Perth route, a limited number of international cancellations will also take place from 10 December-2 January as follows (all dates given in local time):
| Flight | Route | Status |
| NZ105 | Auckland – Sydney | Cancelled 29 December |
| NZ108 | Sydney – Auckland | Cancelled 29 December |
| NZ107 | Auckland – Sydney | Cancelled 12 December, 2 January |
| NZ109 | Auckland – Sydney | Cancelled 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 29 December |
| NZ110 | Sydney – Auckland | Cancelled 12 December, 2 January |
| NZ112 | Sydney – Auckland | Cancelled 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 29 December |
| NZ270 | Auckland – Tonga | Cancelled 30 December |
| NZ273 | Tonga – Auckland | Cancelled 30 December |
The airline will start processing changes to customers’ bookings this week and then directly contact customers affected by these changes with new travel information. Customers booked via a travel agent (including online travel agents) will be contacted by their booking agent. The latest information on any changes will also be published on the Travel Alerts section of the Air New Zealand website and customers are encouraged to check this, before calling the airline’s contact centre. Customers are also welcome to directly message the airline through its social media channels.
Air New Zealand Senior Fleet Manager 787 Captain Dave Wilson says the airline has been performing regular precautionary checks on its TEN engines since April and has been doing all it can to fast-track required maintenance from Rolls-Royce.
“Based on the maintenance needs of our engines, we expect some will need to be inspected in December and January and then serviced by Rolls-Royce offshore and unfortunately, Rolls-Royce has no capacity to alleviate this pressure.
“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.”
Air New Zealand Senior Manager Customer Care and Communications Doug Grant says while the airline never expected to still be facing issues with its Rolls-Royce engines, it’s well placed to navigate these with the least impact to customers.
“Going into the holiday season we’re acutely aware how important travel is to our customers, and our schedule changes are designed to keep cancellations to a minimum.
“Unfortunately, around 14,000 customers will be impacted by cancellations and we thank them in advance for their understanding.”
Air New Zealand has been managing issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines since December 2017, when it first secured lease aircraft capacity to help maintain its timetable. The airline still has one widebody aircraft on lease from EVA Air in its fleet.
There is no impact to the airline’s 22 Trent 1000 Package C model engines as a result of this HPT blade issue.
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