New Zealand News

However, the intervention of the Minister of Transport, Mr Jeffries, opened up a chink when he called a meeting of aviation bodies including the Aviation Industry Association (within which the task force operates), Air New Zealand and the corporation. General aviation promptly put a number of proposals to the corporation: that it revamp its charging system to one that was simple and less costly; that it enhance safety by not making it prohibitively costly to elect to fly under instrument rules and that there be no financial penalty in filing a flight plan. The proposal also called for goodwill and cooperation. A schedule of suggested charges was also to be passed on to the corporation. By late January the corporation had yet to respond.

The dispute is remarkable for the degree of bitterness. The task force has sought and failed to gain documents from the corporation and, indirectly, has made it known that it will seek a court of inquiry if there is a fatal accident which can be attributed to an operator’s efforts to escape or lessen charges. For its part the corporation simply went to ground, refusing any contact with the task force or GA in general.

The corporation’s relations appear little improved with the major airlines who were set to benefit under the complex formula for scaling dues. Unconfirmed but reported by very solid sources say that Air New Zealand has been billed for up to 30% more than its own estimates for airways dues and had refused to pay until the corporation got its sums right.

Mossie Build Planned

The complete reconstruction of a wartime de Havilland Mosquito is planned by a local syndicate. The machine which will take three years to build and cost about $1. 4m will be the third flying Mosquito extant – British Aerospace owns one which was damaged recently and there is a privately owned one in the US.

Australian Aviation was asked to withhold the names of those involved for the time being, but the work will be done at Gulf Aeronautics, Ardmore which recently restored a Hawker Sea Fury.

The prime mover in the project, an aircraft engineer, said an almost complete stock of metal parts had been assembled from two aircraft, an RAF FB (fighter bomber) VI and an RAAF (trainer) T43. The reconstructed aircraft would be an Australian T43 with dual controls. Both types were flown by the RNZAF from 1946 to 1953. Two Packard Merlins inhibited since the 1950s, were

being flown to the US for complete checks.

The engineer said it was intended to construct the wooden airframe in exactly the same way as was done in the war. The materials would be the same (“absolutely no fibreglass”), except for the glues. A study was underway to see which of the modern glues would best replace the casein and early resorcinol glues used in the wartime aircraft. The fuselage, balsa sandwiched between ply, would be laid up On a wooden mould. The technical data is also being sought from Hawker de Havilland Australia which is also working on a Mosquito rebuild for static display at the War Museum in Canberra.

The New Zealand Mosquito will not be for sale but will be flown by syndicate members and others.

Ansett Goes All Bae 146

Ansett New Zealand announced an aircraft purchase in January which is sure to force its competitors into an urgent huddle over re-equipment. The airline revealed that instead of buying two British Aerospace 146-200 jets, it was now purchasing seven. The fleet, at a total cost of $280m, will all be in place by January 1990, displacing the early model Boeing 737s at present in service.

The aircraft are being purchased by Ansett New Zealand’s Australian parent company and leased. In making the announcement, the company was unsure of what would happen to four new Boeing 737s on order for New Zealand operations – two 200 Series due for delivery this year and two 500 series for delivery in the early 1990s.

The switch-over to the so-called ‘whisper jets’ could be the company’s master stroke. There is mounting opposition to 737 noise at Wellington Airport and a damaging curfew is expected to be extended in 1991, hitting both Ansett and Air New Zealand. At Queenstown, the major South Island tourist destination, physical limitations bar 737 use, so Ansett at present flies in Dash 8 aircraft while Mount Cook uses HS 748s. The 146s will also be used more profitably on other major provincial airports like Rotorua which are served by 737s under payload restrictions.

Undoubtedly, Mount Cook will be the competitor who will have to move fastest. Mount Cook and Ansett are in direct competition on the tourist trail – Auckland/Rotorua/Wellington/Christchurch and Queenstown, and Mount Cook’s 748s will be no match against the faster and more comfortable 146s.

So a question mark hangs over the future of Mount Cook Air Lines, especially after Ansett puts the 146 into Queenstown. Ironically, Mount Cook considered buying the 146 three years ago, but then shelved a decision.

There have been suggestions that Mount Cook Air Lines (majority owned by Air New Zealand) is being deliberately allowed to die – a charge the airline vigorously denies. But the way fate in the form of Ansett NZ has driven it into a corner, points to the need for very fast footwork if it is to survive.

Air NZ Meet Jap ‘Explosion’

Air New Zealand is evaluating the city of Nagoya, 360km south-west of Tokyo, as an option to Narita for new services planned this year. In November the airline increased its Auckland/Tokyo frequency from three to four a week and has now reached an agreement in principle with Japan to take the number to eight a week. The additional services were subject to Narita

Airport landing slots being available.

The airline’s chairman, Mr Hugh Fletcher, said. the outbound market from Japan to New Zealand “Can only be described as exploding. ” Capacity had been doubled in the past three years and the planned flights might only keep pace with coming growth. After only 14 months on the route, Air New Zealand announced in December that it would suspend its service into Dallas, Texas.

The flight which operated Auckland/Honolulu/Dallas/London will be re-routed via Los Angeles from March.

The American ‘heartland’ service was undoubtedly prompted by the Government with an eye towards trading opportunities. It failed to meet financial expectations and most Auckland originating passengers using the service were found to be destined for London. An airline spokesman refused to rule out a future return to Dallas, but said that for the time being there was a better return on aircraft if used elsewhere. The service also proved excessively costly because of crewing and rest problems and the airline believes prospects for generating American heartland passengers will be better in Los Angeles after the relationship with American Airlines is strengthened when the Qantas-Brierley consortium takes over.

Sources in Air New Zealand say the withdrawal from Dallas marks a strongly commercially orientj;3d disposition and a determination not to be swayed or provincial pressures. They point to the cessation at the sa:me time of three other services which are all at the bottom of the yield ladder: Christchurch/Nadi/Honolulu; Narita/Christchurch non-stop and the direct Perth/Christchurch service. The first of these Christchurch services has been flying since 1975 and, should long-range twin engine operations over oceanic routes be allowed, Christchurch will probably get its services back with Boeing 767s instead of jumbos.

As these services cease, the airline will inaugurate a twice weekly flight out of Sydney to Honolulu and Los Angeles.

The Qantas Deal Is Finally On

The on again/off again Air New Zealand sale appears finalised. The Qantas-Brierley consortium is confirmed and the only hurdle left in late January was the approval of the New Zealand Commerce Commission. There was little doubting it would go through.

Air New Zealand, which had hoped a British Airways consortium would be chosen, welcomed the decision to end “a very trying time”. Chief executive, Mr Jim Scott, said Qantas had assured Air New Zealand that the last thing it wanted was a merger.

The price paid by the consortium for the airline will be $NZ660m – a figure the Government justifies on investment and earnings, but which nevertheless has been sharply criticised. Former chairman, Mr Bob Owens, described it as a ‘giveaway’ and said the company’s landing rights would be worth that price even before the value of equipment was tallied up.

It is understood the amount offered in the British Airways consortium bid was rather more, but the initial down payment was to be smaller with the balance spread over several years (BA’s consortium members were the New Zealand investment bank, the DFC and a Japanese tourism investment company, EIE).

The Qantas-Brierley shareholdings will be: Brierley Investments Ltd 65%; Qantas 19. 9% (at a cost of $A97. 9m); American Airlines 7. 5%; Japan Air Lines 7. 5%. Under the agreement Brierleys will sell 30% of the shares to the New Zealand public, institutions and Air New Zealand staff – the sale is expected about mid 1989.

Under this break-up, at least 65% of the shares would be held in New Zealand, the Government pointed out in a 1 O page statement arguing for the sale. To maintain a New Zealand identity, the Government was to retain a ‘Kiwi share’ – 0. 1%.

The Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Mr Stan Rodger, said major reasons for selling all rather than part of the airline was that a part sale would have entailed the Government remaining involved for longer and carrying associated money risks and it could have resulted in a lower level of commitment by new owners towards the airline.

Police Chopper Takes Off

The arrival of a police ‘eye in the sky’, a Bell 206 Jetranger helicopter, has had a dramatic effect on Auckland’s crime rate. Armed holdups, particularly of banks, averaged two a day in the greater Auckland area during 1988. With the arrival of the chopper they had virtually dropped to a negligible figure in the first month of 1989. The chopper and its six police crewmen were averaging ten arrests a week ranging from burglars to car thieves. So pleased was the local police chief, Assistant Commissioner Brian Davies, that he promised that if the Government failed to provide funds for operating the machine, he’d be prepared to retire five patrol cars and staff to fund the aircraft work, known as ‘Operation Eagle’.

Already, the Auckland police are looking towards replacing the Bell 206 with a twin engine aircraft increasing endurance from 2½ to four hours and enabling it to carry out its surveillance work from 500ft, rather than the 1,000ft now required by Civil Aviation when operating over urban areas. From 1,000ft, the crew are unable to read car number plates, so have to rely on descriptions of make and colour when in touch with headquarters.

The introduction of the helicopter was largely at the instigation of Mr Davies, who made a study of similar operations while on a private visit to the United States. On return he persuaded the ASB Bank to sponsor the chopper for a month. Its value was immediately apparent and the original sponsor has now been joined by the Bank of New Zealand for a limited period. However, in January the Government was still refusing to contribute to costs amounting to more than $900,000 a year in order to make the operation permanent.

The police hire the machine and pilot from a private company. The identity of the company, its location and the name of the pilot remain secret because, in the past, at least three helicopters rumoured to have been used for police work have been sabotaged. According to police media liaison officer, Tony Bouchier, the aircraft is kept in the sky on surveillance as well as in ‘chase’ roles. Banks and other agencies subject to hold ups have taken to painting their signs on roofs for quick aerial identification.

Corporates Fly Out

A large scale exodus of corporate aircraft from New Zealand is largely blamed on the Airways Corporations charges. Over recent months 11 aircraft have ceased flying for New Zealand organisations and have been sold outside the country. They include a King Air 300 owned by Watties Fielder and a Navajo formerly operated by the Owens Group (Mr Bob Owens was a former chairman of Air New Zealand).

Dennis Thompson, founder of the aviation task force estimates that the new scale of dues adds an average of $95,000 a year to the operating costs of one aircraft. Mr Tom Riddell, the executive director of the Aviation Industry Association, said the irony was that everybody lost. Each corporate aircraft contributed some $1m to the economy, so this was down some $11m.

Riddell said that when he mentioned the need for some support in containing costs for corporate aircraft, one Member of Parliament told him: “The corporates are rich men’s toys – they can afford to pay. ”

Briefs

• The RNZAF says it is satisfied with the condition of its two 20 year old Boeing 727s, despite the Eastern Airlines incident in which one of its 727s lost 35cm of skin near its tail engine. The Service is following FAA inspection schedules and says its aircraft have (since delivery six years ago) clocked up only 10% of the annual hours commercial 727s do.

• Pilot Officer Angie Dickinson, the RNZAF’s first woman pilot was awarded her wings at Wigram and began training on Sioux helicopters at Whenuapai early this year. She was the only ·survivor’ of three women who began the rigorous training evaluation course – the washout rate was similar for men. Pilot Officer Dickinson was expected to be assigned to No. 3 Squadron, flying Iroquois, about April.

• A toilet fire on an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 confirmed fears that overly restrictive smoking bans could see passengers sneaking a secret puff. The cigarette end fire in a paper disposal bin was detected quickly and doused while the machine was on approach to Auckland. The culprit remains unknown.