Air New Zealand withdraws the Fokker F-27 Friendship

The Fokker F-27 Friendship was the most successful Dutch built airliner in history, and one of the pioneers of short haul aviation in the turboprop/jet era. It first flew in 1955. In many countries the F27 opened up regional air services offering turboprop speed and efficiency with a pressurised cabin, powered by the revolutionary (for its day) Rolls-Royce Dart engine.

In New Zealand, the F-27 replaced the piston-powered Douglas DC-3 on regional routes, and launched services to Dunedin's then new Momona Airport in 1962.  NAC flew thirteen of the F-27 100 series and five of the F-27 500 series, and became the mainstay for flights to all airports outside Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin trunk services.  Air NZ flew the aircraft until 1990, after which it flew some regional routes with Boeing 737-200 aircraft (notably Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North and Invercargill), but also let its subsidiaries Air Nelson, Eagle Airways and Mount Cook Airline take over the routes with their aircraft.

The choice of the F27 was in spite of pressure from the British Government to the New Zealand Government to buy the British-made Handley-Page Herald. The Herald was in many ways similar to the F27, that first flew in 1955, but with one critical difference - the Herald was powered by piston-engines, whereas the F27 was powered by turboprops (which at the time were "state-of-the-art" having already launched a new era of air travel with the Vickers Viscount, which NAC had already ordered and was operating on main routes). Handley Page thought that moving to the new technology was too risky, but the Rolls Royce Dart turboprop engine was already proven on the Vickers Viscount, and the Dutch Fokker company's choice was the same engine. Handley Page had no orders for the Herald by 1958, when it decided to reconfigure the aircraft to accommodate the same engine.  By then the F27 was already flying. Ultimately, the Handley Page Herald was a commercial failure for the manufacturer.  Production stopped in 1968 with only 50 built, whereas the Fokker F-27 Friendship was produced until 1987 with 586 built.  The HS748 was produced until 1988 with 380 built. Handley Page went into receivership in 1969, and was taken over by aircraft engineering firm Scottish Aviation, until it was merged into British Aerospace in 1977.  The Fokker F27 Friendship could carry a larger payload, and so for NAC there were never any regrets in rejecting pressure to buy British (the same pressure would be brought to bear ten years later for the BAC 1-11, but was ignored in favour of the Boeing 737-200).

The F27 revolutionised transport between the regions and the main centres, linking towns like Kaitaia, Gisborne, Westport and Whakatane to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in a matter of an hour or so, and while in the 60s and 70s it was mainly the preserve of business and wealthier travellers, by the 1980s flying to regional centres was becoming more mainstream.  The number of regional airports opened up by the F27 was considerable.  From north to south they flew to Kaitaia, Whangarei, Hamilton, Tauranga, Whakatane, Rotorua, Taupo, Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Nelson, Blenheim, Westport, Hokitika, Timaru, Oamaru and Invercargill. They also flew international services from Auckland to Norfolk Island for some years.  

This post has a series of articles following the announcement of the retirement of the aircraft in 1990. The descriptions are under each article.

This first article is written by former NAC Chief Executive Doug Patterson who writes on how the policy of NAC was to use profits from the main trunk services (operated by Boeing 737-200s) to cross-subsidise unprofitable regional routes (operated by F27 Friendships).  He claimed in NAC's last year it lost $7.093m on provincial routes, offset by profits of $7.825m on main trunk routes.  He noted the biggest losses were services from Napier to Auckland and Wellington losing $1.14m, Auckland-Hamilton-Wellington losing $0.974m and New Plymouth to Auckland and Wellington losing $0.887m.  He noted that even in 1978 steps were "being taken" to surrender some lightly patronised services to other operators, including services with five or fewer passengers.  Patterson's article appears critical of the deregulation of the sector and especially critical of the Lange Government enabling Ansett to operate domestically in New Zealand and blames this for the demise of the F27 Friendship services.  He projected many regional centres would be served by very small aircraft with no room to stand up on board, and of course he was largely proven wrong. He said New Zealand didn't have the population to support competition and multiple carriers, but this would also be proven wrong. Regional routes were made profitable by Air NZ's subsidiaries, and are profitable today, although some routes have been abandoned by the airline (notably Oamaru, Whanganui, Westport and Kaitaia). 

The Evening Post on 4 August 1990 wrote its editorial "Farewell to Friendships".  It noted that as Air NZ had been privatised, it no longer was obliged to run unprofitable services and competition from Ansett NZ was making it difficult to sustain lightly patronised regional routes with 48-seat aircraft. It noted that competition had been good, as it forced Air NZ to refurbish the old terminal at Wellington, and the arrival of airbridges, more reliable luggage collection and inflight snacks were all welcomed.  The editorial did note Wellington would get more noisy Boeing 737 flights as a result, but it also meant 600 jobs would be lost, months out from the 1990 General Election (which Labour lost in a landslide)

The Dominion editorial of 20 August 1990 also noted that competition from Ansett New Zealand is the reason Air NZ was phasing out F27 services, as it couldn't sustain being competitive on the trunk whilst cross-subsidising the F27 services.  It described some elements of competition as expensive silliness, like in-flight meals, business class and in-flight alcohol. It isn't dismissive of the changes, but does suggest that letting Ansett NZ fly in NZ was an expensive mistake, and it could result in a loss of some Air NZ international services. 

This article by Roger Foley describes the story behind the choice of the F27 by NAC.  It noted the only serious accident for the type for Air NZ was in 1979 when one landed short at Auckland, killing the pilot and flight engineer.  It also notes that Air NZ's maintenance of the type saw it win contracts with overseas operators. The article notes former NAC CEO Doug Patterson's dismay at the entry of Ansett NZ as competitor, undermining the old model of Air NZ subsidising regional services with the main trunk, as he wondered "what sort of services" cities like New Plymouth would now get. Of course, Air Nelson, Mount Cook Airline and Eagle Airways under the auspices of Air NZ would ensure most regional routes would thrive with higher frequencies and lower fares than ever before.