Australian Aviation

In a statement announcing Air New Zealand’s half-year results, CEO Greg Foran confirmed that the new 787-9s, which will add to the carrier’s current fleet of 14 Dreamliners and feature the Skynests, are not likely to arrive until next year.

Qantas said the added transparency would vindicate its consistent denial of “slot hoarding” accusations, while Virgin and Bonza have labelled the changes “a step in the right direction”.

The airline blamed “manufacturing delays” at Airbus, which means the first of its specially adapted A350-1000s will not arrive by its original delivery date of the end of next year.  

The union’s strong words come after the Flying Kangaroo lost a series of court cases that ruled the airline was wrong to remove more than 1,700 ground workers back in 2021.

Ed Clark, a Boeing veteran of almost 20 years, will be replaced effective immediately by vice president of 737 delivery operations Katie Ringgold as vice president and general manager of the 737 program, and also as head of Boeing’s Renton factory in Washington State.

The Flying Kangaroo promised the technology would be fast enough to stream movies, TV shows and live sports to users’ devices.