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Air New Zealand is planning to roll out changes to its scheduling system across its domestic and international jet network after seeing a boost in its on-time performance.
The carrier, which placed second in the Asia-Pacific for on-time arrivals in 2025, last year introduced the new system for its regional operations, saying it involved “rethinking how schedules are built to better reflect the realities of operating at different airports across the country”.
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“Previously, aircraft turn times (how long the aircraft is on the ground before its next flight) were one size fits all, regardless of where an aircraft was landing,” the airline said.
“Through this review, the airline recognised that turn times can vary significantly depending on the airport, how busy it is, and the specific gates being used.”
According to Kate Boyer, Air New Zealand’s general manager for airports, ditching this “one size fits all” approach helped boost regional on-time performance at the end of 2025, with 84.5 per cent of its regional flights arriving on time in November and 81.2 per cent in December.
“For example, at Auckland Airport we know some gates require extra time for aircraft tugs to meet the aircraft, so we have allowed for that in the schedule,” she said.
“By planning around what actually happens on the ground, we are setting ourselves up for stronger, more reliable performance for our customers.”
According to Boyer, Air New Zealand has been engaged in “a large programme of work across the business to consistently improve on-time performance”, which saw an on-time arrival rate of 79.29 per cent in 2025, up from 77.3 per cent in 2024.
“We’ve also focused on additional training for our frontline teams, created a new customer assistance role dedicated to providing wheelchair services, invested in equipment and tools to support our ground operations, and embedded a digital communications application across the operation enabling our teams communicate effectively and efficiently.”
“This is a business-wide effort. On-time performance is not something we look at once a year. It is a daily focus. While it is great to have our progress reinforced in this annual report, what matters most to us is delivering for our customers every day.”
The result was revealed earlier this month by analyst Cirium’s annual data for 2025, with Air New Zealand finishing behind only Philippine Airlines (PAL) at 83.12 per cent. Virgin and Qantas placed eighth and ninth in the Asia-Pacific region, respectively.
According to Cirium’s Asia editor, Ellis Taylor, Air New Zealand – which placed fourth in the region for 2024 – had “delivered a significant improvement despite grappling with engine issues that have at times grounded up to six aircraft across its Airbus A320neo family and Boeing 787 fleets”.
“It appears to have proactively managed those issues by adjusting its schedule, and keeping overall capacity flat, while also bringing in wet-leased capacity towards the end of the year,” Taylor said.
In Australia, last year saw Virgin Australia re-enter the top 10 for the region with 76.54 per cent on-time arrivals, narrowly beating Qantas at 76.51 per cent.
