Jetting Off

“Air New Zealand was the first airline in the world outside of the USA and Europe to operate the 737,” Air New Zealand’s fleet manager for the 737-300, first officer Angus Black, told Australian Aviation. “Our 737-200 fleet made more than 825,000 flights during its 33 years with the airline. Our first Boeing 737-300 joined our fleet in early 1998 – delivered in a special millennium colour scheme. Since then we’ve operated a total of 23 737-300s. ”

For many New Zealanders, their first flight was probably on a 737 jet.

Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 737‑300 arrived to supplant the -200 fleet in 1998, at the end of the production line for this version of the 737 classic generation of aircraft.

Indeed, “Air New Zealand purchased the last 737-300 ‘classic’ produced by Boeing [ZK-NKJ] back in 1999. This particular aircraft has flown nearly 36,000 hours and was one of our last few in the fleet,” Black says.

The airline has operated those -300s for a notably longer period than many other airlines in the developed world (the notable exception, of course, being US 737 stalwart and 737-300 launch customer Southwest Airlines, which has gone so far as to refit the aircraft with electronic flightdecks, new interiors and winglets).

Air New Zealand wasn’t a slouch in terms of technological advancements with the 737-300,though, as the airline’s Angus Black explains: “At the time (February 1998), the introduction of the 737‑300 allowed Air New Zealand to significantly increase frequency and therefore increase marketshare on the Tasman. The 737‑300 carried greater passenger numbers and had significantly quieter engines. ” “The 737-300 also led the way with advanced navigation procedures into Queenstown,” Black observed. “These procedures have now been adopted by other airlines and across our A320 fleet. ” In its recent 75th anniversary celebrations, including at the well-received museum exhibit at Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, Air New Zealand emphasised the role of the 737 in its development as a carrier, and in the cultural zeitgeist of New Zealand as an emerging nation inthe age of decolonisation and the end of Empire.

As Black put it: “For many New Zealanders, their first flight was probably on a 737 jet, so there are a lot of memories of this aircraft. Part of our 75th anniversary exhibition included a 737 nose cone and cockpit. The cockpit display really highlighted the connection that many New Zealanders have with the aircraft and the airline. Visitors recalled stories about family trips travelling in the 737 and they were pleased to have the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of an aircraft associated with so many great memories. The exhibition also gave pilots and engineers who worked with that particular aircraft, which was fondly named ‘Sparky’, an opportunity to visit with their families. More than 117,000 people visited the cockpit as part of the exhibition. ”The excitement about jet aircraft may seem slightly baffling in 2015, and especially to readers who didn’t experience the golden age of jet travel, but the upgrade from Vickers Viscounts, Fokker Friendships and even Douglas DC-3s was a matter of national pride – until the loud early jet aircraft became unpopular with their neighbours, at least. The quieter 737‑300 aircraft were much better received by residents living near New Zealand’s airports.

With the 737-200 and -300 a mainstay of the domestic and Tasman fleets for decades, the surprise in New Zealand and in Seattle in 2002 when Air New Zealand purchased its first Airbus aircraft for its trans-Tasman and Pacific Island flights, in many instances directly replacing 737‑300 aircraft on those routes, was tangible. “At Air New Zealand we have been working towards simplifying our fleet with Boeing widebody aircraft and Airbus narrowbody jet aircraft,” Black explained. “We are replacing the 737s with Airbus A320s which will give us better fuel efficiency and more seat capacity as well as streamlining our engineering, maintenance and crew requirements. ” And it is those A320 aircraft that will largely be succeeding the 737-300 on major domestic trunk routes. Yet that replacement is in practice two-fold: at the lower end of the 737‑300’s capacity scale, the eleven-strong ATR 72-500 and six-strong ATR 72‑600 fleet of 67-seater turboprops operated by subsidiary Mount Cook Airline are replacing the 737 on shorter routes where demand varies notably throughout the day, suchas Wellington-Christchurch. At the upper end of the capacity scale, Air NZ’s 13-strong domestic 171-seater A320 fleet operates high-demand routes like Auckland-Wellington, plus routes where the additional speed and comfort of the A320 makes economic sense.

“The A320s offer better fuel efficiency, more seat capacity and streamlined crewing, engineering and maintenance requirements,” Black explained, noting that “our regional turboprop network and service offering is one of the most extensive in the world. We continue to invest in the quality and efficiency of our turboprop fleet and we will be welcoming an additional eight ATR 72-600s over the next two years. ” Indeed, the passenger experience of the latest ATR 72-600 aircraft, which Australian Aviation toured at the Paris Airshow at Le Bourget a few months ago, is in many ways superior to the 737-300s they are replacing. With an eye-catching newinterior, no middle seats, increased soundproofing and larger overhead bins – and given the usual aphorism that passengers generally prefer additional frequencies on smaller aircraft than more seats on fewer flights operated by larger aircraft – these ATR 72-600 aircraft are a marked improvement on their older -500 siblings. From an airline point of view, it may well be more cost-effective to operate two full ATR 72 flights on the Mount Cook Airline cost structure than one 80 per cent full Airbus A320 on the mainline Air New Zealand cost structure.

Towards the end of their working lives, the one-class passenger experience on board Air New Zealand’s 737-300 fleet created and reset travellers’ expectations for domestic mainline services that continue to this day: an extra-legroom economy section branded Space+ at the front for frequent flyers and Koru Club members, and regular economy class seatingat the rear of the aircraft.

The Space+ section on the 737‑300 varied from 35in to 33in ahead of the exit rows to 31-30in behind. Air New Zealand has maintained this configuration and range of pitches on the domestic Airbus A320 jets it operates, while the ATR 72 fleet is a standard 31in pitch.

During a time when Qantas and Virgin Australia predecessor Pacific Blue have ceded domestic NZ flying to Air New Zealand and Jetstar – itself due to begin operating turboprop Dash 8 aircraft nicknamed ‘Propstar’ by industry wags to four new airports in New Zealand’s North and South Islands – the move to an all-economy domestic fleet that started on the 737 seems particularly prescient.

But it may not be the end of the line for these aircraft. “We’ll prepare the final aircraft in the 737-300 fleet for sale. The sale is currently under negotiation so we can’t go into details about that. However, it is likely they will continue to be operated commercially,”Black noted.

“Most of our 737 pilots and cabin crew will transition to the A320 or widebody fleets (787-9 and 777),” Black said. “In fact, the majority have already done this. ” The end of the Boeing 737 long chapter in Air New Zealand’s history is a poignant one, but it is also a foreshadowing of the next decades in Australasian aviation as well. It seems clear that the venerable 737 Next Generation’s 737 MAX successors are stretching the limit of what is achievable with this 1960s base airframe, despite the almost nose-to-tail upgrades with each successive generation of 737 aircraft families and the increasingly efficient generations of turbofan engines. Air New Zealand is the first major airline in our region to call time on the 737 – but it’s certain not to be the last.