Game changer

Boeing’s VP of sales and marketing Marlin Dailey added that “the interior of Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777-300ERs, -inflight entertainment system is a great example of why Air New Zealand is Airline of the Year. The 777-300ER is an ideal plat-form for enabling Air New Zealand to once again demonstrate that they are a forward thinking airline with revolutionary ideas. ” Platitudes are typical at handover ceremo-nies but this was different – very different. For the VIPs and media the celebration started the night before at a gala dinner at Seattle’s Music Experience with Sims claiming that what guests were going to see the next day would change travel for the majority of passengers. Whetting the appetite, Sims, who retired from the airline after the delivery flight, -innovations in air travel since the advent of the jumbo jet in 1970 – business class, IFE and premium economy. We are introducing five major innovations at the same time. ” After the handover of the ‘keys’, hangar doors parted to reveal the magnificent air-craft silhouetted against the Seattle winter sun. Air New Zealand Cultural Ambassa –aircraft for a Maori blessing.

Quiet Awe

After Loftis and Sims cut the ribbon there was a dignified stampede to get -was the reaction and a sense of privilege that one was witnessing aviation history.

Not even a sumptuous lunch could tempt visitors off the aircraft so preparations for departure could get underway.

It seemed only seconds after Captain and no-one was disappointed. Quiet awe Des Grant nudged the throttles forward on the 777-300ER at 3pm that it was airborne and winging its way south to Los Angeles to another major media reception. For those aboard for the quick trip to LA there was the first taste of the new service product with “cocktails, canapés and snap-shots of the snow-covered Mt St Helens”, as Maria Slade from the New Zealand Herald told her readers. Greeting passengers at Door 2 for the final leg to Auckland was CEO Rob Fyfe and among the guests were 25 elated Air New Zealand staff who had won a compe-tition to be part of the celebration. Fyfe told media that few if any airlines invested time and money in redesigning the economy experience. “We’ve done it for both economy and premium economy,” he said. The flight to Auckland was effortless, with flight attendants cooking up a restau- rant experience despite the lack of the new induction ovens that will be installed by the airline. -December 24, after a downtown fly-by. After formalities it was time for hun-dreds of Air New Zealand staff to inspect years of research and effort, and they, like the passengers on the delivery flight, were not disappointed, as talking and read-ing about the makeover pales to actually experiencing what is unquestionably for the majority of passengers the most comfort-able aircraft in the sky.

What is not pale is the decor, which has all the style and hue of a sophisticated wine bar. Pearl, silver and black seat covers and dark grey carpet are striking against the ice white cabin walls with subtle pink and -This is no ordinary aircraft, with Air New Zealand throwing 50 years of travel norms out the door from a secret ware-house in Auckland. Sims takes up the story. “In 2006 we had just taken delivery of our last 777-200ER with a new interior and CEO Rob Fyfe challenged us to rein –to sleep. ” “We wanted to challenge everything. ” But, while the airline created its own project team it realised it was “perhaps -industry wisdom. ” The airline brought in design consul-tancy IDEO from Palo Alto, California, a top 10 innovative global think tank, which told the airline it was only benchmarking itself against competitors and just tweaking around the edges. So began an exhaustive analysis over nine months, looking at every aspect of the airline’s cabins and inter-viewing passengers, flight attendants and thought leaders.

“IDEO reminded us that with the world’s longest hauls – 90 minutes longer [on average] than anyone else – we had a greater obligation than any other airline to give passengers more,” Sims said. By late 2009 the process had produced a revolution in the airline cabin, which was unveiled to the world in early 2010. Core elements of the makeover, the economy Skycouch and the premium econ-omy Space Seat, were designed in-house. The Skycouch – or ‘cuddle class’ as it has become affectionately known – is a set of three seats that is engineered to convert into a flat surface up to the seat row in front. The armrests retract back flat in the seat giving two average sized adults room to sleep. However, the Skycouch’s perfect niche is for a parent and two small children. Passengers can buy the Skycouch for the cost of 2. 5 fares, but it will not be avail-able for sale as a bed until April due to the certification program.

More than 30 airlines plus Boeing are now negotiating with Air New Zealand to buy the licence for the Skycouch and the premium economy Space Seats. But Qantas is not one of them. The airline told Australian Aviation that it was -new A380 were better.

Features

But even for passengers paying for just one standard economy seat there are also a host of new features.

The airline has increased the distance between the rows of seats by 2. 5cm, which is 5cm more than most airlines, while the seat’s winged headrest is combined with a small pillow for additional comfort. All seats have a USB port to connect into the IFE, plus PC power and an iPod connector.

Another first is the introduction of the ability to order and pay for premium wines from the business class cabin, and passen-gers can also order snacks from their seat -The airline has also introduced a timeline for passengers telling them when meals will be served on their flight. And when meal time comes it will not be one tray full of everything required for the entire meal but rather smaller trays with each course, giving passengers more space to continue what they are doing. Air New Zealand also has an option on check-in whereby passengers can buy any -on long haul routes. The Space Seat in premium economy looks more like it belongs in business class. 51 MARCH 2011 your feet sink into ‘Otto’ the foot cushion.

The seats are arranged in sets of two with outboard ones being more private and the middle set more for couples, with a central padded table that can be pushed down – It is a shell back design so the passenger in front cannot recline into your space, while AUSTRALIAN AVIATION Kerry Reeves, time constraints limited some concepts for the 777-300ER. “There are more ideas in the pipeline, what you see here is a start of the innovation process. ” Australian Aviation wards so the two seats form a flat bed.

Passengers enjoy a meal that is quite different from the normal airline fare with tapas, pizzas, even gourmet Angus beef burgers on offer, while couples can also share a dessert platter. At snack time toasted sandwiches can be whipped up or perhaps an apple and cin-namon spiced hot cake. Wines are from the Business Premier business class selection. The airline’s Business Premier has been enhanced on the previous offering with the important addition of a thick mattress. Meal service is on demand and served restaurant style with no meal trays. The throwing out of the old also includes the amenities kit in business class with new wildly striped socks and funky eyeshades that might have you looking like a raccoon.

The Air New Zealand 777-300ER has five galleys to improve the speed of delivery to passengers and five galley chefs prepare the meals. In a first, induction ovens have been installed which allows for the cooking of food onboard so you can now order a steak the way you would like it or get real poached eggs. Also onboard for the first -Some of the galleys have been increased in size and large LCD screens added to enable a platform to host passenger interac-tions such as wine tasting.

There is also new elegant crockery and glassware. Finishing off the makeover is some fascinating and fun attention to detail in the toilets. Air New Zealand has gained a reputa-tion for the risqué with staff, including the CEO, stripping down to be body painted for safety videos and TV commercials that have become massive hits on YouTube. Its latest edgy foray is to be found in the form of bookcase wallpaper on some of the -As one whiles away the time in the little house you can read the book titles such as The Importance of the Aiming which delivers a not too subtle message to male passen-gers. Others such as My, That is Big and the -Zealand leave you wondering and smiling. Uncovered: A Brief History of Underwear -The Mile High Club: Tell All Stories have you pondering just where you can buy these books. However, most will probably pass on Public Toilets of New Zealand and The Porcelain Polishers Club. READING ROOM -And for those not into reading fascinat –giant chandelier wallpaper.

Fleet Options

The first 777-300ER entered service on January 11 operating Auckland-Mel-bourne, before makings its first trans- Pacific Auckland-Los Angeles flight on January 19. Air New Zealand has another four -options, and will also refit its existing eight 304-seat 777-200ERs with the new prod-uct over the next two years. 777s of another model may also find their way into the Air New Zealand fleet, -options, including the Boeing 777-200LR, to mitigate the further delays in the 787 program. Sims said that the airline was “looking at the -200LR version to open up new non-stop routes” that may include Chicago, other US Midwest points or South American destinations. “We are examining a host of options for our fleet to fill the gap in the slippage in the 787 program. ” Air New Zealand was the second airline to order the 787 and is the launch customer for the 787-9. It was due to take the 35th Dreamliner off the assembly line, but Sims said Boeing has advised the airline that the first 787-9 will now be further back in the production sequence.

“We don’t know what the extent of the delay will be,” he noted. -long haul fleet around two types – the 777-300ER and 787-9 – but is being forced to retain its 747-400 fleet past 2012 and will refurbish its eight 777-200ERs. -next, the airline has even grander plans for the interior. According to manager aircraft programs has had exclusive access to some of those concepts on a confidential basis and they are exciting and raise the bar further. There’s no doubt Air New Zealand has made global aviation his-tory and looks set to keep making it.

Game Changer

‘Game changer’ and ‘unique’ are well worn terms that have long lost their punch, but the impact of Air New Zealand’s new 777-300ER interior will indeed change the airline industry. Airlines for decades have battled with the overall demand for lower fares from economy passengers by reducing space while tapping the potential for higher pre-mium fares for flat beds by increasing the space in the front end. It seems incredible that when the jet age arrived the pitch between the rows of economy seats was an incredible 40in (102cm), compared with today’s typical 31in (78cm). pany designed its DC-8 jet in 1955 it set the aircraft’s giant panoramic windows at 102cm apart so each seat row would have a magnificent view.

The result of the contrasting drivers was an abyss in price and product that has Indeed, when Douglas Aircraft Com- It’s an X factor few airlines can claim. While New Zealand may be at the bot-tom of the world its airline is at the top of its game.

begged to be filled for decades.

In parallel the population has become taller, wider and wealthier, none of which has been lost on born again Air New Zea-land, which has recovered in spectacular style from its own brush with a financial abyss caused by its foray into ownership of Ansett. In just 10 short years Air New Zealand has filled a trophy cupboard with awards, the latest being Air Transport World’s 2010 ‘Airline of the Year’ and Conde Nast ‘Best Long Haul Leisure Airline’. And the airline warns its competitors that you haven’t seen anything yet, and that warning should be heeded as the airline’s long term plans are as ambitious as they are cutting edge.

Air New Zealand has returned choice to economy passengers who will now have four distinct product options from the standard seat to its world leading pre-mium economy.

In doing so it has also tapped the rapidly growing market for those who are scream–drive to dehumanise flying. For Air New Zealand the delivery of its first 777-300ER was the culmination of a nine-year journey to reinvent itself. It is a reinvention, highlighted by the 777-300ER’s groundbreaking interior, that begs a comparison with Qantas’s flagship, the A380. Qantas turned to well known and internationally respected designer Marc Newson to design the interior of its A380, and there is no argument he created a magnificent interior with award winning seats in first, business and economy class from a design perspective. In fact, the airline touted it as the first aircraft cabin ever designed from the ground up by an interior designer. But the –ments in the status quo, not a leap forward. Air New Zealand on the other hand has challenged that status quo – like no other airline in recent times – and is walking the walk. It is an issue with fascinating dynam-ics, given Qantas’s share of the inbound/ outbound Australian market continues -expand in height and width. Australians are the second tallest people in the western world and have obesity levels just behind Americans. The Australa-sian Society for the Study of Obesity says that the lean, athletic, bronzed Aussie is a myth, with research showing that more than half of all Australian women (52 per cent) and two-thirds of men (67 per cent) are overweight or obese. Certainly, Qantas has added premium economy, but it is well behind Air New Zea- land’s premium economy offering. And it seems a toe in the water given Qantas has 32 premium economy seats in its A380 while the smaller Air NZ 777-300ER has 50. -economy seats are one inch wider that on Air New Zealand’s 777-300ER, but the kiwi -to select – and pay for – their level of addi-tional space, including the seat next to them, if available, for just $150 per sector. The Air New Zealand product is clearly a new competitive threat, which begs the question, will Qantas be forced to innovate in response, or continue to see its market share decline further? –

The X Factor

Air New Zealand’s willingness to inno-vate seems indicative of a corporate culture that has a certain ‘X factor’. From the journalist’s perspective -inaugural services are always informative and enjoyable, especially given the access to senior management from the airline and manufacturers in what is typically a relaxed environment. But the Air New Zealand 777-300ER delivery tellingly showed just how much most other airlines lack that X factor.

And how do you define the X factor? Well it was so many different aspects on this flight. A revolution in economy class was a very good start and a new way of preparing and presenting meals was another, while a giant leap in the way passengers are entertained also had plenty of bouquets. But what was inspirational was seeing lucky airline staff who had won a competi–Rob Fyfe as they boarded the plane in Los Angeles. Some were even in tears.

And those same staff and other guests were found to be singing traditional Maori -every Air New Zealand staff member you talk to speaks in glowing terms of their airline and its management.