Air New Zealand is one of the many airlines experiencing scheduling difficulties as a direct result of the ongoing engine issues with its Dreamliners. The Kiwi carrier is having resort to lease in an A340 aircraft from European based company Hi Fly to operate its Auckland - Los Angeles service.
Air New Zealand warned its passengers that they would likely notice a difference in the products and service style onboard as well as the different livery on the outside as the HiFly aircraft doesn't feature the familiar koru on the tail. The flight will be operated by Hi Fly crew and pilots as Air New Zealand crew ate not trained/rated to operate the A340 aircraft. Apparently, Air New Zealand will also put on an additional member of its cabin crew on the HiFly operated flights to assist with service.
Air New Zealand will deploy the HiFly A340 on flights NZ10 Auckland - Honolulu and NZ9 from Honolulu - Auckland from 22nd May and features a configuration of 24 seats in Business and 267 Economy seats. The lease of the HiFly aircraft has been agreed until the middle of June and the current scheduling on the Honolulu route is effective up until 10th June.
The carrier advised passengers, that it had been planning to operate this service with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. However, unscheduled maintenance requirements for some of the Trent 1000 engines which are fitted to the 787-9 fleet has meant the aircraft that was originally scheduled to operate the route is now unavailable.
In order to minimise disruption to customers, the airline have leased one A340 aircraft on a short-term basis from Hi Fly. They also sought to reassure passengers that safety was not an issue, advising "Air New Zealand takes the safety of our customers, our people and our aircraft extremely seriously, whether travelling on our own operated aircraft or that of any other carrier that we have a partnership with. Our Operational Integrity and Engineering teams have been involved in sourcing these lease aircraft right through to their entry into service. Hi Fly is a highly regarded European leasing company with an outstanding safety record."