'Boom' can carry 65-80 passengers with a range of 4,250 nautical miles and is 100% carbon neutral using SAF. Video / Supplied
Air New Zealand boss Greg Foran outlined a futuristic vision for the airline to the tourism industry today after it released details of the more immediate impact of engine problems on its network.
Supersonic aircraft could halve travel time on long-haul routes and Foran said on the sidelines of aTourism Industry Aotearoa summit that Air New Zealand should “absolutely” be interested in the technology.
“Both supersonic and hypersonic travel is on the cards and, couldn’t tell you exactly when, but I have seen the engines that are being developed and I’m confident that in a decade or two, what we see in aviation today will have had a step change,” he said.
Air New Zealand had a role in what would be a revolution for aviation.
“We’re innovators, curious and a market-leading business that should be at the forefront of these things -sensibly,” Foran said.
Air New Zealand’s alliance partner United Airlines last year signed up to buy up to 50 planes from Boom Supersonic, and while those 80-seat planes wouldn’t have the range to fly across the Pacific, the development of the technology is speeding up. Boom’s first flight is planned for 2027.
Foran said advancing air travel was crucial to New Zealand because of the country’s remote location.
The theme of the summit is the adoption of new technology in tourism and Foran said Air New Zealand was developing more ideas to solve problems.
It was doing more work on digital bag-tagging linked to phones to do away with paper and checking in at kiosks.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran. Photo / George Heard
More use of biometrics would smooth the travel experience and the airline was using mechanical exoskeletons to help with baggage.
“In the not-so-distant future, we will unlock the power of artificial intelligence. We’ve got about four trials at the moment and you’ll see more around robots,” said Foran.
The airline would use quantum computing to predict and manage weather events and disruptions.
For passengers on flights, there would be 3-D printing on board to better personalise service and it was exploring virtual reality ideas and looking at the power of the Metaverse.
“Imagine a flight with virtual reality can change your perception of time, offering mindfulness and meditation,” Foran said.
“And if you can’t fly due to cost or disability, then there’s potential to combine virtual reality and the Air New Zealand experience in homes and special travel centres across Aotearoa.”
The airline is investigating the role of drones in connecting people and also single-seater electric planes that require no licence other than a few hours of training but could replace short-distance car travel.
“So whether it’s biometrics or robotics or the key changes last year, we plan to defy expectations by rolling out improvements faster and better thanks to the way we work,” Foran said.
However, the airline faced another period of turbulence as it deals with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engine issues that have forced it to pause services to Hobart from April next year, and to get more maintenance headroom on Rolls-Royce engines for its Dreamliners, it has been forced to suspend services to Seoul. The P&W issue could drag on for two years.
The problems were a “sideswipe” and beyond the airline’s control, Foran said, adding that they were worldwide problems.
Up to five A321s could be on the ground at any one time because of the P&W problem. Some ATRs would do some more flying on domestic routes.
About 329,000 passengers were on the affected flights but nearly half of those wouldn’t be impacted at all as they would move on to another plane, said Foran.
Other passengers would see a change of time of up to a day and that could mean problems with connecting flights which the airline was working to resolve.
Beefing up call centre number capacity - with contractors in the Philippines handling social and digital inquiries - would help reduce waiting time for complex inquiries, he said.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
