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Air New Zealand was the third most punctual airline in the Asia-Pacific region last month, according to data from aviation analyst Cirium.
September saw 87.3 percent of Air New Zealand flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule, well above the global average of 77.7 per cent, placing it behind Hainan Airlines and Trinity Airways (formerly T’way). The carrier operated a total of 13,072 flights during the month.
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“Customers count on us to get them where they need to go. Our airport and cabin teams make that possible by working together to get each flight ready to depart on time. That means being disciplined and focusing on the details,” said Air New Zealand chief operations officer Kate Boyer.
“There isn’t one silver bullet for punctuality – it’s about getting lots of small things right, from having the aircraft ready, bags being loaded, crew being in position and customers boarding at the right time. Saving a minute or two at each stage makes a difference.”
According to Air New Zealand, one technique it has used to increase punctuality is “pre-staging general boarding”, which involves airport and cabin crew teams working together to “have the gate and customers ready so general boarding can begin as soon as the aircraft is cleared”.
“On international flights from Auckland, the trial saw extended boarding delays reduce by around 45 per cent and general boarding begin just under four minutes earlier,” the airline said.
“Air New Zealand then tested the same approach on domestic jet services from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. While domestic flights generally have a shorter boarding process, the trial still saw boarding-related delays reduce by around 25 per cent.”
Boyer noted that pre-staging general boarding has now become an approved process for Air New Zealand departures across all NZ airports since the beginning of October.
“The biggest learning has been about what we can achieve when our airport and cabin crew teams have a shared understanding of what excellence looks like and work together to get flights ready earlier,” she said.
“Every minute matters when a delay to one flight can have a knock-on effect across the network. That’s the kind of precision and discipline that sits behind a strong operation.
“We need to maintain this focus on finding opportunities to improve punctuality and reliability for our customers, particularly as we head into the busy summer period.
“87.3 percent is a strong result, but our focus is the other 12.7 percent. That’s what keeps us looking for the next minute we can save.”
While no Australian airlines appeared in Cirium’s top ten for APAC in September, Qantas did rank fifth among major airlines globally in fellow analyst OAG’s ratings for the month, with 86.57 per cent of its flights arriving on time.
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