Solo mum with three kids praises Air NZ for help during 16 hour flight to nowhere

Air NZ has on order new Dreamliners more capable of making the New York-Auckland flight. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A mum flying solo with kids has praised the action of Air New Zealand after being stuck on a 16-hour ‘flight to nowhere’.

On February 17 passengers described “boiling with anger” after learning that their flight to New York’s JFK airport was being turned back to Auckland, midway through the journey.

NZ2 - the airline’s longest route - was diverted by an electrical fire at John F. Kennedy. Halfway through the flight, instead of diverting to a US airport the pilots flew back to New Zealand. It was deemed a more logistically sound option as a divert to another airport would mean stranding the crew and temporarily taking the 787 out of circulation.

Travellers aboard the flight were not happy about this call.

Passenger Michele Carbone told the Herald she was furious. After already dealing with one flight cancelled by Cyclone Gabrielle, she sat through 16 hours knowing she would have to get right back on another plane.

However other passengers felt compelled to compliment the crew after making the most of a bad situation.

Traveller Morgan Hamilton told the Herald she and her kids felt that the situation was managed as well as it could have been.

“I was travelling alone with my 3 children ages 7, 5, 2 and am also pregnant,” she said.

Having flown from Christchurch to New York, what should have been a quick stopover in Auckland became a “gruelling” five flight journey.

Still, as far as Hamilton was aware, none of the passengers were left behind and she was impressed by the service of crew in a difficult situation.

“They rebooked the entire flight before landing, provided hotel, transportation, food and onward travel options. I know it was a massive challenge for them to deal with all angry, upset passengers but I genuinely felt taken care of by the team.”

Unfortunately some travellers were less impressed by the manner by which they found out about the lengthy re-direct. One passenger, who wished not to be named, says she first learned that they wouldn’t be flying to New York from her brother, who messaged her over the onboard wi-fi. She told the Herald that she had to ask the flight team if it was true.

“Crew then confirmed it for me when I went to the galley. Some people [are] kicking off, but it’s not the crew’s fault. Most people can see they’ve been rebooked onto new flights,” the passenger said.

She said the crew were “amazing” - and she even “got a lovely hug from one of them.”

She said it was not an ideal way to find out but half-way through the 16-hour flight to nowhere there was “not a lot we [could] do except pick up the new bookings and go from there.”

AKL to JFK, Air NZ says they’re in for the long-haul

The turn-around was the latest setback for the airline’s flagship, longest route. However Air New Zealand’s GM of long-haul Scott Carr said he was confident that New York direct would continue to be a key route for the airline.

“We’re incredibly proud of our New York route. Seeing the mangōpare lined up at JFK airport is an iconic moment for the airline,” he said.

Despite a bumpy start for the route, particularly southbound, the airline is sticking with to their guns with New York being a key focus for the airline.

“We always anticipated that our southbound JFK-AKL services would have payload restrictions. What we didn’t expect was the truly unprecedented weather conditions we’ve been confronted with in the nearly six months of operation,” he said.

Air New Zealand isn’t the only airline that has showed an interest in connecting direct East Coat US routes to Auckland. Despite seeing the weighting problems of NZ1, Australian carrier Qantas will be launching a rival route in June.

Carr says that Air NZ will also be flying the routes, going toe-to-toe with Qantas and offering competitive connections on to Australia.

“We compete in all markets and the New York route will be no exception.”