Bringing Air New Zealand’s 777s back to life, for now

Amid the chaos and uncertainty, and alongside other major international carriers such as Qantas and Lufthansa, Air New Zealand made the difficult decision to ground its Boeing 777 fleet indefinitely, sending part of the fleet into the desert for safe long-term storage. As the tides of the pandemic now finally begin to change, and in what is no simple feat, Air New Zealand’s engineers have started the process of reanimating what was the airline’s prized long-haul aircraft from their two-year vacation in the Californian desert. In fact, by the end of 2022, Air New Zealand hopes to see all seven of its 777-300ERs out of the sand and back in the skies. 

According to Air New Zealand Group general manager for engineering and maintenance Brett Daley, the airline sent four of its “largest widebody” 777-300ER jets to the Victorville aircraft storage facility in the Mojave Desert in mid-2020, with no certain timeline for when – or if – the twin-engined jets would ever return to passenger service. The remaining three 777-300s were instead stored at Air New Zealand’s home of Auckland Airport to allow for a quicker return to service. “When the hard decision was made to park our 777 fleet, we knew the desert was an ideal environment due to its warm and dry conditions,” Daley says. The lack of rain and vegetation and the consistently low humidity levels make deserts the optimal place to put jets into hibernation, as these conditions reduce the risk of corrosion. “But now, after being stored for almost two years in this climate, they are coming out of long-term parking in good condition,” Daley says.

A new world

Across the pond, Qantas began a similar process of reanimating its own flagship Airbus A380s out of deep storage in California in November 2021, aligning with the initial reopening of Australia’s international borders. While two of Qantas’ 12 A380s were confirmed to be permanently retired, the remaining 10 jets are expected to gradually return to regular operations by 2024.

Meanwhile, as many readers would be aware, New Zealand’s hardline stance on international border restrictions remained in place far longer than that of its neighbour Australia’s. For much of the pandemic, New Zealand was closed entirely to overseas travellers, only accepting the return of Kiwis from around the world that adhered to strict vaccination and quarantine requirements. While Australia reopened its international borders to all tourists on 21 February 2022, New Zealand didn’t introduce the same policy until 31 July. Then, less than one month after the reopening announcement was ratified, Air New Zealand finally moved to bring its 777s out of the desert and back to life.

According to Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren, despite such earlier trepidation, renewed demand for international travel in light of the country’s reopened borders sparked the necessary return of the carrier’s remaining 777 fleet. In fact, in August 2022, the airline revealed that forward bookings for the quarter had already tipped pre-COVID levels as travellers returned to the world in droves. While this was largely driven by domestic and trans-Tasman routes, international bookings had rebounded to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic figures. “No one could ever predict what would happen in the pandemic, and now that demand has bounced back quicker than anticipated, we knew it was time to bring these aircraft back from Victorville,” Marren says. “We’ve got teams from across Air New Zealand working on the 777-300 reanimation. From the engineering and maintenance team working on the aircraft to the cabin crew and pilot teams retraining to operate these aircraft, we’re all really excited to have more of them back in service,” she adds. 

The reanimation process

Group head of engineering Daley told Australian Aviation that it takes “around six to eight weeks to prepare” the 777 widebody for a resumption of passenger service after a nearly two-year stint at Victorville. “Our local maintenance provider and engineering teams have been working together around the clock to reanimate them,” he adds. Daley says the two-month process “starts off with a good wash”. After months in the desert, the 777 jets have accumulated a sizeable layer of “dust and grime” across their bodies, wheels, and other exposed gear. Luckily, the engineering teams prepared the aircraft before their hibernation by covering up the plane’s internal access points, including the windows, ports, and sensors. “So next, the engineering team removes those protective shrouds and materials on the wheels, sensors and wings,” Daley says. “We then undertake a thorough servicing and maintenance program to get these aircraft serviceable and ready to fly.”

Meanwhile, according to COO Marren, the next stage of reanimation includes numerous checks and services on the aircraft’s wheel and landing gear to ensure no mechanisms have been impacted by the lengthy period of stagnation – and that no local critters have made a home in and around the wheels. “A lot of work goes into these aircraft to make sure they’re ready to welcome customers back on board,” Marren says, adding that interiors are also cleaned and inspected to ensure they align with customer expectations. “We’ve also been keeping a close eye on these aircraft through their entire desert experience,” she says. “With various regular scheduled checks and maintenance occurring through their time in Victorville, our local Los Angeles-based engineering and maintenance team have diligently taken care of these planes the entire time they’ve been parked.”

The airline chief operating officer says the return of the 777 to the Air New Zealand global network means the airline is currently looking at “rehiring” cabin crew, pilots, and engineers to “resource” the needs of the post-pandemic fleet. Just under 4,000 staff from Air New Zealand were stood down or let go from the airline by mid-2020. However, the carrier confirmed earlier this year that over 1,000 people have been formally “re-hired” since then. “It’s been fantastic to see people coming back into the business. We know our pilots and cabin crew can’t wait to get back on board,” Marren says. “It’s a welcome change from the type of flying our operating aircrew did through the height of the pandemic, and for those stepping back onto a 777-300 for the first time in more than two years, it will be an emotional reunion with one of their favourite aircraft,” she adds.

Beginning of the end

However, the triumphant return of Air New Zealand’s flagship jet to regular passenger service is expected to be short-lived. By August 2020, the airline had flagged its intentions to immediately retire its fleet of eight older, smaller-variant 777-200s in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were also sent to the desert and will now never fly for Air New Zealand again.

Instead, the airline has switched gears to focus on its new and growing fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Despite the Dreamliner being a smaller widebody jet capable of carrying fewer passengers, its range far outperforms the older 777-200, making it a suitable replacement for the airline’s expanding international network. Later, by August 2021, the carrier confirmed this plan of action while also firming up a decision to now swiftly retire its newer fleet of 777-300ER jets earlier than planned. Air New Zealand has confirmed that it will phase out its remaining seven 777-300ER aircraft by 2027, again in lieu of the Dreamliner – this time the larger 787-10 variant.

Both decisions were made as part of a fleet simplification plan that started in 2011, when the airline opted to gradually offload its Boeing 747 and 767 types, along with its Boeing 737s and Beech 1900Ds. However, the impact of the pandemic dramatically sped up the retirement of the 777-300ER, according to Air New Zealand’s chief financial officer Richard Thomson. “The 787 order contracted in May 2018 was originally intended to be a replacement fleet for the 777-200,” he reveals amid the airline’s 2021 annual financial results presentation. “With that fleet permanently grounded and impaired in 2020, the wide body fleet has reduced from 29 to 21 aircraft. The 787s that will enter the fleet from the 2024 financial year will now replace the 777-300 fleet, which is expected to be phased out within this decade.” 

“By reducing the size of the current fleet and changing the phasing of the fleet investment program, we are now set to have an all 787 fleet for our long haul business by 2027,” Thomson adds. “Not only do these aircraft represent the best in currently available technology, but they’ll also bring about significant simplicity benefits in all areas of our operations, crewing, engineering and maintenance and flight operations, to name a few.” Like Qantas’ iconic Project Sunrise, Air New Zealand has invested in the development of a better flight experience on its 787 Dreamliners to fly nonstop point-to-point to far-flung destinations, such as its new flagship 17.5-hour journey between Auckland and New York as NZ1. New investments include the addition of the SkyNest – a bank of lie-flat bunk beds in the cabin that economy passengers can rent by the hour for a better night’s sleep onboard. “I think this is going to be pretty compelling for a lot of customers. A lot of customers will say, ‘for a little bit extra, I’m happy to sit down the back as long as I know I can get a few hours sleep,” says Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran. The airline is also planning to refresh its premium cabins to maximise comfort and convenience for its most frequent passengers. Foran says that the carrier has invested 170,000 hours into designing its new 787 cabins. “It has allowed us to dig deep with the things that customers want and then work with a whole range of suppliers to come up with a suite of products that I think are a world first,” he says. 

Where are Air New Zealand’s 777-300ERs today?

ZK-OKP was the first of the four Mojave-based Air New Zealand 777-300s to begin the reanimation process. After being ferried from Victorville to Auckland, via LAX, on 21 August 2022, the aircraft has now completed most of the reanimation process and is currently being stored in Auckland ahead of its imminent return to passenger service.

ZK-OKN and ZH-OKQ remained stored at Air New Zealand’s hangar facilities in Auckland and have this year both been operating regularly on long-haul passenger services to and from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and, of course, Aotearoa. OKQ was returned to passenger service in February, while OKN carried its first passengers in over two years in May.

ZK-OKO was the next Victorville-based 777-300ER to be reanimated and returned to Auckland. OKO was delivered to Air New Zealand on 22 March 2011 and sported a special ‘Smaug’ livery to promote the then-upcoming Hobbit film sequel between December 2013 and May 2015. Since being reanimated, OKO is the first of the Mojave-based 777s to resume regular passenger service as of 23 August 2022 and is now operated regularly between Melbourne, Auckland and Los Angeles.

ZK-OKM is the airline’s oldest 777-300ER and was delivered to the airline on 20 December 2010. OKM was initially stored in Auckland after being grounded in March 2020 but was moved to Victorville in November 2020, where it remains today.

ZK-OKR and ZK-OKS are the two youngest 777s in the Air New Zealand fleet, having been delivered in June 2014 and September 2014, respectively. Both jets were ferried to Victorville in mid-2020, where they continue to remain ahead of a planned reanimation.