An Air New Zealand Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at Washington Dulles International Airport this week after stormy conditions forced the New York-bound flight from Auckland to divert. File photo / Michael Craig
An Air New Zealand Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at Washington Dulles International Airport this week after stormy conditions forced the New York-bound flight from Auckland to divert. File photo / Michael Craig
A Kiwi teen travelling overseas alone for the first time found herself at a “dead” airport at 2am after stormy conditions forced her Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to New York to land just outside Washington DC.
And despite Air New Zealand saying it was trying to sort accommodationfor diverted passengers, the 18-year-old claims there was radio silence from the airline on where anyone was meant to stay.
The teen was starting a two-week holiday to New York and San Francisco when NZ2 diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport late on Thursday night (Friday afternoon NZT).
Air NZ chief operating officer Alex Marren told the Herald NZ2 was diverted because of thunderstorms and air traffic constraints in New York, with passengers spending the night in Washington DC before continuing their journeys on other airlines.
“Due to limited ground support available to assist in Washington DC, customers were encouraged to source their own accommodation if they preferred to. We understand this was not an ideal situation and appreciate our customers’ flexibility and understanding during this unexpected disruption,” Marren said.
“When there was 54 minutes left of the journey, it changed on the [flight] screens from Auckland to New York, to [Auckland to] Washington DC… after a while [they] said it was because of a thunderstorm.”
After landing just after 9.15pm, passengers spent a couple of hours on the tarmac. The young woman, who asked not to be named, said she received an email from Air New Zealand saying it was looking for hotel rooms for passengers.
Later she found out she’d been rebooked to fly from Washington DC to New York with United Airlines at 7pm on Friday local time.
“They said they had limited staff because they don’t usually fly to this city, and they’d give out more details shortly.”
But Air NZ never got back in touch about accommodation in a city where she knew no one and had never been, she said.
“When we got through security it was 2am, so nothing was open. The airport was dead… I was quite nervous. I was worried about flights, I was worried about my hotel and whether I would lose that booking for the whole week.
“I was nervous I was going to miss [time] in New York. I think that on top of the 20 hours on the plane just really made it a little more emotional.”
After another passenger tried to call Air NZ, but couldn’t get through, and being uncertain about the timeframe for getting reimbursed from the airline if booking accommodation independently, the teen decided instead to join four other Kiwis organising their own way to the Big Apple.
Air NZ told the Herald that its current response time for a request for accommodation reimbursement is less than two days, if all information is provided correctly.
The group took an Uber to Union Station in Washington DC, splitting the US$84 ($138) fare between them.
They then caught an early morning train to New York, spotting others from their flight on board, which cost US$191 each, the teen said.
Travellers on their way to New York City instead wound up in Washington DC after an Air New Zealand flight was forced to divert. Photo /NYC & Company
The Aucklander planned to claim insurance for both expenses, with her only criticism of Air NZ its communication after the plane’s unexpected diversion.
“[I have] no complaints about the staff on board. They were really nice and obviously it was out of their control.
“It was more just that we got to this random city that we weren’t meant to be in, and then they just stopped communicating with us about where we were supposed to go.”
Air NZ’s Marren said the initial diversion led to the cancellation of flight NZ1 from New York to Auckland on Thursday night (Friday afternoon NZT), with passengers rebooked on other services.
And flight NZ2, due to depart Auckland for New York at 7.20pm tonight, has also been cancelled because the plane was “out of position”, with travellers rebooked on alternative flights leaving today, Marren said.
This article has been updated to say Air NZ’s current response time for a request for accommodation reimbursement is less than two days if all information is provided correctly.
