Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) is evaluating options for the wet-lease of a widebody aircraft to bolster its capacity during the upcoming southern summer season (i.e. northern winter), as its in-house capacity is stretched to the maximum, Chief Executive Greg Foran told the Airways Magazine.
"We know customers want the Air New Zealand experience, and that's what we want to deliver too. But at the moment we're stretched to capacity, and making sure our customers are able to travel is our top priority. The lease of an additional crewed aircraft may help us achieve that," Foran said.
He did not detail the type of aircraft the airline is looking at and stressed that the decision to wet-lease in additional capacity was still only tentative.
Despite these potential ACMI plans, Air New Zealand said it would proactively trim 1.5% of its planned schedule during the southern summer season.
Even though the plans have yet to be finalised, cabin crew unions have already said they would prefer the airline to ramp up rehiring and increase salaries to attract more staff.
"We're disappointed they've chosen to go down this path. All unions were consulted a couple of days ago about the possibility of a foreign carrier coming into New Zealand. But we were not told that it was due to current sickness. We were told it was due to an overall lack of staff," Flight Attendants' Association president Craig Featherby told the New Zealand Herald.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the New Zealand flag carrier's widebody fleet currently comprises seven B777-300(ER)s and fourteen B787-9s. The B777s are due to be completely replaced with new B787-10s by 2027.
