New Zealand News

The rationale behind Air New Zealand’s bid rests on perceived marketing opportunities and plugging an important gap in the Pacific rim network. Air New Zealand’s chief executive, Mr Jim Scott, said Lan Chile was seen as a key player in South American markets with strong network links into the mid Pacific, North America and Europe. “It has the potential for us to lock in and access these important markets and is another integral step in our five to ten year planning for growth and profitability,” Mr Scott said.

He pointed out that Air New Zealand had represented Lan Chile in New Zealand since the early 1970s and co-operated closely on technical matters including the long-term lease to Lan Chile of DC-1Os. Boeing 767-200ERs operated within both fleets and were identical down to cockpit layout.

As well as domestic services, Lan Chile flies to all major South American capitals as well as Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Madrid and Tahiti and has unused rights into Germany. The convenience route ‘loopings’ which would be opened by a partnership between the two airlines are therefore considerable.

Among other bodies known to be in the bidding is Alitalia. Final bids were to close on July 28 and the successful bidder was to be announced within 30 days.

Ansett Bid Rejected

Ansett New Zealand has wasted no time in moving towards setting up an international airline. Following the strong Government hint that this would eventually be sanctioned, Ansett International New Zealand Ltd applied for an international licence -and was rejected by the Government.

Transport Minister Mr Bill Jeffries described the bid as “an interim application”. The law did not allow him to either consider interim applications or grant interim licences, he added. Nor was there enough information in the material supplied on which to base a decision.

The point was well taken by Ansett. Spokesman Brian Lockstone said the company was back at the drawing board determining the routes the airline would fly, company structure etc. A further application would follow.

Under the 1985 External Civil Aviation Policy which would allow Ansett to fly internally out of New Zealand, the company would have to have at least a 65% New Zealand partnership. Mr Lockstone said that by using the existing Ansett New Zealand infrastructure, Ansett International would not require a ‘vast’ capital base. Meanwhile Air New Zealand has counterattacked. At an Auckland forum, the chief executive, Mr Jim Scott, reiterated that the market could not support two such airlines. The airline was mounting an argument to go to the Government against more than one designated international carrier, pointing out that strategically and for tourism, this was not feasible. The airline, having invested in unused routes which interested Ansett, would lay claim to these destinations in a blocking move.

On the domestic front, Ansett NZ’s first British Aerospace BAe 146 went into regular services between Rotorua and Queenstown on July 30. The rapid build up of the 146 fleet over the following months was allowing the company to expand its domestic services. Its two de Havilland Canada Dash Eights relieved of responsibility for sensitive airports (Queenstown, Rotorua, etc) were being switched into new services, Auckland/ Palmerston North and Invercargill/Christchurch.

Juliet Delta Out of the Ice

The resurrection of Juliet Delta 321 deserves a place in aviation annals. In July, the ski-equipped C-130 took off from Christchurch for California – 18 years after being abandoned badly damaged from a forced landing in a remote part of Antarctica.

Soon after the accident, US Navy people from McMurdo made a hurried salvaging sortie over the National Science Foundation owned Hercules, roughly hacking out anything transportable, communication systems, navaids, instruments etc. For the next 16 years she lay completely entombed in ice, 18 inches of vertical stabiliser protruding at the peak of the summer melt down.

Then Dr Peter Wilkness, director of the Foundation’s division of polar programmes, decided that a salvaging attempt would be worthwhile -in light of the $US30m price tag on a new C-130. It took a party of six stout sailors nearly a month to release Juliet Delta 321 from the ice tomb, mainly using shovels. Replacement engines were dropped in and with much trepidation the aircraft lifted off for McMurdo to be readied for the 3,800km flight to Air New Zealand’s Christchurch engineering base.

Just two pilots flew the machine north, sitting on parachutes, plugged into portable oxygen and tailing close behind another C-130 which acted as the navigational guide and (if necessary) survivor spotter.

Barry Geddes, manager of the engineering base, recalls that before restoration work could begin a raft of legal problems had to be overcome since officially Juliet Delta 321 did not exist; she’d been written off the register. Fortunately the dry Antarctic atmosphere prevented any corrosion but the badly wrinkled fuselage had to be dismembered and pulled into shape in jigs. The wings (outboard of both inboard engines) were replaced in keeping with the C-130 wing strengthening programme of the 1970s. One of the biggest jobs was replacing 3. 5kms of wiring, necessary because of the way early salvage parties had literally hacked out components.

An almost insurmountable problem was obtaining smaller but vital parts for the aircraft, since the aircraft was 30 years old and many of these parts had since been superseded and gone out of production. They included avionics, undercarriage parts and instruments. Geddes and his staff sought the pieces from Britain, Singapore, the US and the RAAF and even resorted to going through stock held by aviation museums around the world.

Gradually they got the aircraft together, working outside normal commitments, over 16,000 man-hours and at a total cost of $1. 5m. In brilliant sunshine, she was test flown, throwing up only one minor pressurisation problem. Equipped with INS, radio compass and Tacan she took off for the US Navy Base at Pt Magee, north of Los Angeles. There it was planned to reestablish her place on the register and to make her into a fully modern Hercules.

Footnote: Unfortunately Dr Wilkness’ bold plan could not be called cost efficient. Another National Science Foundation

Hercules flying parts to Juliet Delta 321 in the summer of 1987 crashed, killing two crew members and injuring nine others.

Quiet Jets for Air NZ

A New Zealand press party in Seattle was recently told by Boeing that Air New Zealand had ordered six of the later model 737 jets. Coyness or perhaps commercial sensItIvIty prevailed – the airline refused to confirm the story, pointing out it had been talking with a number of manufacturers over similar capacity jets including McDonnell Douglas, Airbus and Boeing.

The Boeing story however makes good sense. The last (and fairly recent) mass order for 737s by the airline was for _ Series 200 aircraft, prompting criticism that it would soon run into airport noise problems. That threat is looming with the final ‘stage 3’ imposition of new noise restrictions planned t_or 1995. This would certainly ban the airline’s 737-200s from Wellington and Queenstown and result in major restrictions from other airports. The airline has begun an approach to individual airports seeking leniency and asking that they take into account the need for capital expenditure to be recouped before crushing new charges are imposed. The airline has also been talking with Pratt & Whitney about hush kits and the possibility of fitting new ‘quiet engines’ such as the Rolls-Royce Tay at about $US9m apiece.

Meanwhile, Ansell New Zealand’s planned introduction of ultra-quiet British Aerospace 146s was running to schedule with the first aircraft in service by late July. Rumours that the company were cutting back on the order of seven 146-200s was nonsense a spokesman told Australian Aviation. Rather, it was actually increasing the number to eight with the leasing from Bnt1sh Aerospace in October of the first 146-200QC.

Strict Noise Standards?

Details about the planned airport noise standards were still sketchy, though the planners promised a ‘tremendous reduction’ in airport noise when fully imposed. They also claimed the New Zealand standards would be ‘unique’.

The standards were being drawn up by the Health Department and the Transport and Environmental Ministries. The Health Department’s principal scientist, Dr Philip Dickinson, said they would be based on an air noise boundary.

Skyhawks Pack New Punch

The RNZAF’s updated system for Skyhawks came on line in July following the successful firing of Maverick missiles over the Waiouru military range. In one firing attended by the press, the first line aircraft with the project Kahu weaponry combinations and one of the two ‘prototype’ machines used in the update, both demolished small ground targets with Mavericks during runs over the range. The missiles were television guided, but the update also allows for integration with later Maverick systems including infra-red guidance.

The Maverick provides the RNZAF with a stand-off capability .

allowing it to attack a surface target from seven kilometres away without over flying the target. Also included in the $140m update package is the capability for delivering the new generation AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missile (as used to great effect in the Falklands) and the GBU-16 laser guided bomb which provides much greater accuracy than free fall bombs.

The Service is updating 22 A-4Ks (including the two ‘proto- types’) at Woodbourne. Seven were undergoing the systems modernisation in July and the last aircraft was due to be finished in October 1990. The project also includes the longer term replacement of wings and extensive structural modifications plus new avionics.

Falcon in a Spin

Unlike Project Kahu, Project Falcon has turned into a messy business. Falcon is to find a replacement for the Service’s rapidly deteriorating Strikemaster jet trainer ground attack aircraft. Ten tenders were received from various manufacturers but no decision had been made by June 30 when the prices lodged became outdated. Meanwhile worsening stress problems in the 16 Strikemasters made it imperative that the sooner these aircraft were retired, the better.

Australian Aviation inquiries in mid July elicited the response that the Service was officially seeking a three months’ extension to the tender and consideration process pending the ‘availability of funding’. A non-official interpretation was that the Ministry was determined the RNZAF would get its replacement aircraft but it had a fight on its hands to justify the cost in a badly straitened economy.

Report a Double Banger

Air New Zealand was readying what it called ‘a double banger’ in its 1989 annual report, probably to be published in August. The report was to contain share documents for the public float in the airline sell off.

Under the original agreement, Brierley Investments, holder of a 65% stake in the airline, was to sell off a 34% stake in the company to the public and airline employees. The 34% is understood to comprise about 84 million shares, of which about 14 million will be earmarked for airline staff. The underwriters are the Westpac Banking Corporation and the broker Ord O’Connor Grieve Ltd.

Following privatisation, a new board has been appointed, heavily weighted on the BIL side, but representing Qantas (which has a 20% stake) and Japan Air Lines (7. 5%).

The chairman is Mr Bob Matthew (45), chief executive New Zealand of Brierley Investments. Members are Mr Jim Leslie, chairman of Qantas and Mr John Menadue, Qantas chief executive; Miss Patricia Reddy, a leading taxation legal expert; Sir Ronal Trotter, a leading industrialist and former president of the Pacific Basin Economic Council; Mr T Ken Tamaki, Japan Air Lines vice president management information; Mr Selwyn Cushing, an executive director of BIL and Mr Paul Rollins, Bil’s group chief executive director.

In a management appointment, the airline also announced that the new general manager passenger sales and marketing would be Mr Anthony Marks, an honours graduate from Harvard University who was formerly managing director of Carter Holt Harvey’s merchandising group.

Dunking Machine for Chopper Pilots

The collapse of Australia’s National Safety Council has led to the development of a local training course for helicopter pilots and crew who might crash in water. The service, being developed by Westpac rescue helicopter crew chief, Mr Simon Barton, has backing from Civil Aviation, New Zealand

Helicopters Ltd and the Defence Services.

The $30 000 facility in Auckland includes a dunking . machine .

and Jetranger body shell suspended over a swimming pool on a rotating bar. Until now, New Zealanders who needed this escape training had to go to Victoria to the NSC’s facility or to a US military training base in Hawaii. Apart from crew, regular passengers such as oil industry workers who fly to offshore ngs will undergo the course.

Briefs

• The RNZAF in July withdrew its No. 41 flight from Singapore thus breaking an association which began in 1941 with the arrival on the island of No. 488 Squadron. In recent years the flight – the last active remnant of the Service’s South East Asian Transport squadron, No. 41 – has consisted of three Iroquois based at Sembawang.

• The Aviation Industry Association is seeking to have cal examination requirements for holders of commercial pilots licenses changed. Licence holders over the age of 40 have to pass a medical every six months. The association would like the age requirement increased to 50.

• Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific will increase their joint Auckland/Hong Kong service from two to three each way a week from November 26. Route revenue manager Asia-Japan, Mr Earl Bunting, said the increase reflected the growth in demand. Garuda Indonesian Airways blames demand elsewhere for the temporary reduction of its Auckland services from two to one a week.

• Britain’s largest charter airline, Britannia Airways, plans to fly 14 all economy Boeing 767 flights from Britain to Auckland and Christchurch over the next southern summer.