Air New Zealand considers replacements for its Boeing 737-200 fleet and celebrating 20 years of the Boeing 737

 

In 1989, the Dominion's Martyn Gosling speculated that Air NZ was about to order replacement of around half of its Boeing 737-200 fleet, "forced" upon the airline due to noise complaints in Wellington and the "marketing advantage" of Ansett NZ flying the quieter and newer Bae 146 ("whisper jets").   The other "problem" was at the time there was peak demand for new aircraft and Air NZ needed to rush to buy otherwise it would "miss out". Of course demand for new airliners fluctuates over the years as airline markets rise and fall, so this proved not to be a key issue.

This article fundamentally proved to be wrong. Ansett NZ's Bae 146 aircraft did not save the airline from losing money, and Air NZ chose not to replace the Boeing 737-200s until the mid 1990s, when it ordered the last set of Boeing 737-300s off the production line at heavily discounted prices.  The Boeing 737-200s would continue to fly with Air NZ until 2001, with hush kits.

The article speculated that Air NZ could:

• Order hush kits for the 737-200s to address the noise issue at Wellington (this was done)
• Order the Airbus A320 (but the article claimed it would be "too big" for the regional routes 737s were operating to at the time, such as Hamilton, Invercargill, Palmerston North and Napier, but the airline dropped jet flights to those airports in the 90s).  Air NZ would latterly operate Airbus A320s for short-haul international services from 2003 and order more to replace the Boeing 737-300s in 2009. 
• Order the Boeing 737-500 (and the larger Boeing 737-400) and also use them for short-haul international services, to free the 767s for longer haul routes.

So for another thirteen years, Air NZ would fly the Boeing 737-200 series, albeit with hush kits ordered in the 1990s to address noise complaints.  From 1998 the Boeing 737-300s would start to replace them on both domestic and short-haul international routes, until Airbus A320s replaced them on the short-haul international services from 2003 and ultimately the last Boeing 737-300s were phased out in 2015 on domestic services (replaced by newer Airbus A320s).

Relevant is this 1987 article by Martyn Gosling celebrating twenty years of the Boeing 737 being in operation. It is a history of the Boeing 737 to date, and it remains remarkable that even in 2023, this same basic design is still being manufactured (albeit in what is essentially the fourth generation version in the 737 Max series).  The history is in a NZ context, but it is worth remembering that in the first few years sales of the Boeing 737 were so slow, Boeing nearly scrapped the programme altogether.  Boeing 737s remain in NZ use only for domestic air cargo by Parcelair, and from foreign carriers such as Qantas and Fiji Airways, flying internationally.  

For New Zealand more generally, the Boeing 737 was revolutionary as it effectively was the deathknell of the future Silverstar overnight luxury express sleeper train which started in 1971, and the overnight ferry service from Wellington to Lyttelton.  The Boeing 737 stripped business travel away from the Railways Department and the Union Steamship Company from the late 1960s through the 1970s, as such travellers preferred a short flight to spending a night on a train (or a ferry - in the form of the TEV Maori and the TEV Rangatira).

At the time of NAC introducing Boeing 737s, the overnight rail service between Wellington and Auckland was austere. Sleeper cars were only two-berth cabins, with toilets (no showers) at the end of the carriages, and no on-board catering (trains stopped multiple times for refreshments at station cafeterias). Meanwhile the Wellington-Lyttelton overnight ferry service was significantly hindered by the tragic sinking of the TEV Wahine, which left the service operating on alternate nights as only the much older TEV Maori was available. In 1971 the Silverstar started service, and in 1972 the TEV Rangatira, both of which significantly lifted the standards of the respective services, but it was too late. The Wellington-Lyttelton ferry service was terminated in 1976 after years of losses (and two years of subsidies to try to revive it), and the Silverstar was terminated in 1979 for an ill-fated refurbishment, to replace the rolling stock of the more basic Northerner train. That did not proceed, and ended luxury overnight passenger train service between Wellington and Auckland.

NAC Airline Review Boeing 737 edition

 

Airline review presents the NAC Boeing 737

Contents page and NAC's Choice

NAC's choice of the Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 for NAC

Boeing 737-200 dimensions

Boeing 737 cross-section and sample cabin

Boeing 737 side view, furnishings and equipment and features

Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine

Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine

Why wing mounted engines for the 737

More on engines

The Boeing Company

The Boeing Company

The 737 under construction

What was the fate of the first Boeing plane?

The Government-owned National Airways Corporation was set up to be the national domestic air carrier with a statutory monopoly, in the mid 1960s it was considering the next generation of airliners. It had the Vickers Viscount as its turboprop main trunk aircraft, the Fokker Friendship F27 was already the turboprop regional route mainstay as it phased out the Douglas DC-3.  NAC was under pressure in the 1960s to order the British made BAC 1-11 as its first jet aircraft, but eventually convinced the Government of the day that it should order the Boeing 737. This was the first Boeing airliner order by a New Zealand Government owned airline.  The Boeing 737 at the time was not considered a great success by Boeing, as sales had been slow for the small jet, squeezed by the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 as a larger competitor (which itself was chosen as the smaller jet for TAA and Ansett in Australia.  NAC ordered three Boeing 737s initially and ended up with eight before merging with Air New Zealand in 1978.  Subsequently, Air New Zealand had a fleet of 10 Boeing 737s, renewing then in the mid 1980s with the 200 Advanced series and in 1998 with the last production series of the 737-300 model (ultimately replaced in 2015 by Airbus A320s.

After choosing the Boeing 737(200 series), NAC produced this special edition of its magazine, airline review. It contains the following interesting information:

• A brief comparison with the economics of the 737 vs. the BAC 1-11
• The cabin width was initially a 3-2 configuration (with the middle seat having a width of 20 inches), in the 1970s this would be come 3-3. Initially NAC was intending to operate 737s with 90 seats, subsequently increased to 115
• Detailed description of the 737 history and design elements
• Boeing 737 diagrams of side, cross section across and sideways and Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofans
• Story of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan
• Why engines for the 737 are wing-mounted? (noting at the time the BAC 1-11, DC-9 and Boeing 727 all had rear-mounted engines, and wing-mounted engines are the norm for almost all jet airliners in 2023)
• Profile of the Boeing Company
• A link to the first Boeing plane and New Zealand.

The Boeing 737-200 was a great success for NAC and Air New Zealand subsequently.  Not visible in this magazine, but the 737 also saw NAC launch a new (and its final) airline livery.

Air New Zealand fleet fact sheets 1983 and 1985

 

Air NZ Boeing 747-200B 

Air NZ Boeing 737-200 and Fokker Friendship

Air NZ McDonnell Douglas DC8-50 F and fleet history

Air New Zealand route network 1983

Air NZ Boeing 747-200B (1985)

Air NZ Boeing 767-200ER and Boeing 737-200

Air NZ Fokker F27 Friendship and fleet history (1985)

Air NZ route network 1985

Air New Zealand used to make available information sheets about its current fleet, above are two different issues for 1983 and 1985.  The key difference is the 1983 issue includes the single DC-8F freighter and the 1985 issue include the Boeing 767-200ER.

Other notable differences between the two years include:

• 1985 edition notes a sixth Boeing 747 is on order
• Seating capacity on the Boeing 747s has dropped by three seats in economy
• The order for Boeing 737-200 Advanced is noted in the 1985 edition (which would ultimately replace the six NAC era Boeing 737s)
• Hong Kong and Port Moresby dropped from 1985 route map
• Adding Christchurch-Nadi to 1985 route map
• Adding Honolulu-Vancouver to 1985 route map
• Adding Wellington-Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane to 1985 route map

Undoubtedly the introduction of the Boeing 767s gave Air New Zealand significantly greater flexibility to add new routes, not just restarting Tasman services from Wellington, but also redeploying Boeing 747s from Tasmania and Pacific routes.

Air New Zealand Pacific Class - the beginning of domestic business class

 

Air New Zealand Pacific Class (domestic) 

Air New Zealand Pacific Class (domestic)

Following the launch of Ansett New Zealand providing main-trunk competition between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for the first time, in 1987, Air New Zealand rushed rather quickly to respond.  Whilst Ansett New Zealand for some time offered a domestic first class (later rebranded to business class), Air NZ decided to emulate its international business class in terms of branding - as it had already called business class "Pacific Class" to distinguish it from other airlines (following the likes of many international airlines, such as Singapore Airlines which for years called its business class "Raffles Class").

Air NZ had only had a business class since 1981 with the introduction of its Boeing 747s, but by 1987 it had introduced its Boeing 767-200ERs all of which had Pacific Class on board, with reclining seats (and notably no First Class).  The airline had been operating a few regular domestic services with its 767s for a couple of years, but this was not daily, and few passengers availed themselves of paying for the better seating with such an occasional schedule.  However, this leaflet is for the introduction of Pacific Class on its Boeing 737-200 fleet operating on routes between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and some services to Hamilton, Palmerston North and Invercargill at the time.  

Air NZ sold Pacific Class as being "just $22 more than the standard one-way economy fare" (not a discounted one), about $53 in 2023 prices.  What would you get for that and how does that compare to the later iteration of business class and indeed priority service today with a single class domestic service?

• Priority checkin (standard today for those with Gold or Elite status, or Koru Club membership)
• Koru lounge access (albeit lounges only available at the time only in the four main centre airports)
• Fruit juice, hot refresher towels and complementary newspapers on board
• Seats that are sheepskin-covered, but still standard economy seats, with the centre seat folded down as a tray - this is similar to intra-Europe business class on almost all airlines, such as Lufthansa, British Airways and Air France/KLM, but also Air NZ Works Deluxe on international A320 services today.
• A two-course meal on all breakfast, lunch and dinner flights, with snacks in between meal times (noting smoked salmon, fresh fruits and cheeses).

Air NZ finishes the leaflet noting it has four classes of service on 737 services. Economy, Pacific and City Saver and Super City Saver (the latter two are no-frills with 25% and 50% discounts on fares, but are on aircraft with a different LOPA (no Pacific Class seating) and no on-board catering).

What isn't included that would be expected with a short-haul business class today (and was part of the last iteration of domestic business class service) is:

• Priority boarding
• Additional luggage allowance
• Priority luggage
• On-board bar service (mentioning fruit juice but not alcoholic drinks indicates Air NZ didn't have a licence for in-flight alcohol on domestic flights as of yet.

This leaflet heralded the start of a "golden age" of domestic main trunk competition between airlines based on service.  The images of the Koru lounge, full of people dressed for business, are intended to illustrate that there is "no need" to pay to join, when you could cough up money and have access before your flight. The other image of the cabin is intended to depict the space available with a blocked middle seat, plus on-board meal service (with coffee cups not wine or beer glasses!). Clearly a mock-up as the economy cabin is behind a wall!  This was only the first iteration of domestic business class by Air NZ, as it competed with Ansett New Zealand for the high-end domestic market.

Domestic business class was abolished in 2002, following the airline's restructuring in the aftermath of the collapse of Ansett Australia, and the Government partly renationalising the airline. The reasoning being that few passengers paid for business class on domestic routes (the notable main users were Members of Parliament, passengers with onward international business class connections or passengers with Airpoints status using domestic upgrade vouchers).