Faithful servant gets big farewell

Gus Black says that the Boeing 737 was a real "hands on" aircraft.

If the Air New Zealand visitor to Hawke's Bay Airport yesterday had two legs instead of two wings, it would have been only three years off being presented with a gold watch.

With 47 years of reliable service for its employer, the airline's last member of the Boeing 737 fleet touched down at the airport just before 10am for a four-hour "farewell" visit.

Although the gold watch would have been for total years of the 737-200 and 300 versions, yesterday's arrival was one of the last two 300s which joined the fleet in the late 1990s. The Boeings are being replaced by Airbus A320s.

Hundreds of people, including several school groups, turned up at the airport during the day for what was a nostalgic look at one of the airline's most faithful and reliable servants.

The aircraft has already been farewelled in Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington, with the Bay crowd the largest of them all with about 800 people on hand to say goodbye.

It was back in September 1968 when National Airways Corporation, which merged with Air New Zealand in 1978, took delivery of its first Boeing 737-200 with the first flights a month later between Auckland and Wellington.

More followed through the years, with the upgraded 737-300 joining the growing fleet in 1998.

During its service, the 737-200 model made more than 825,000 flights over 33 years and, since its introduction, the airline has operated 23 of the Boeing 737-300 models.

The 737 which flew in yesterday had carried about 2.5 to 3 million people, Air New Zealand fleet manager First Officer Gus Black said.

For him, it was a brief return home as he grew up in Hastings.

"Great to have a good look at the Bay again on the way in."

He said for the five-strong crew taking the aircraft on its final calls there were mixed emotions as all had flown many a mile in them.

"For pilots, you feel connected to the plane because it is very hands-on, very involved - with the new ones you are more a manager of the systems."

He said many visitors talked of how the 737 was their first experience of a jet, although the purpose of the aircraft was lost on some excited youngsters. "Some kids ask where the guns are," Mr Black said.

"They love to put the pilot's hat on and hold the controls."

A constant stream of people of all ages walked through the plane and got to see the cockpit during its four hours "open time".

The runway is not an unknown landscape for Boeing 737s as Hawke's Bay had once been on the regular service route list.

The Boeings first began flying into Hawke's Bay Airport in early 1992, although there was an initial delay as it was determined the runway needed a grippier seal - in wet weather there was the risk the bigger, faster Boeings could aquaplane off the end.

But a layer of tough surface spread did the trick.

Boeing 737s had also run a brief service through Hawke's Bay during the Christmas of 1990.

However, in late 1993, the jet service was withdrawn after it was determined that smaller turbo-prop aircraft would be more economic as passenger numbers at that time had fallen.

The introduction of the smaller aircraft, with fewer seats, did have the spin-off that more services to and from the main centres could be scheduled.

Yesterday's final Air New Zealand Boeing 737 took off for Tauranga at 3.30pm, taking many memories with it.