News

Air New Zealand has discovered cracks near its planes’ cockpit windows, grounding 11 aircrafts and causing delays to flights in and out of Dunedin.

After hairline cracks were found in one aircraft during a routine inspection, all 11 planes in the 11-year-old ATR fleet were grounded until further inspections could be made. This resulted in the cancellation of flights and further delays to other services around the country, affecting 5000 passengers between Sunday May 18 and Monday May 19.

Services to and from Dunedin were also disrupted. One frustrated Otago student suffered delays on her way to Christchurch for an interview. “It put me in an anxious state as I didn’t know if or when I would even arrive. I also had to miss my accounting lecture to get to the airport on time. Prior warning of the delay would have been helpful.”

Air New Zealand spokesperson Haley McCrystal told Critic there was no concern that Air New Zealand’s reputation or credibility would be damaged. “Passenger safety and that of our staff is paramount and non-negotiable at Air New Zealand hence why the decision was made.”

Air New Zealand told Critic that by conforming to the ATR manufacturer’s instructions to replace the cockpit window every eight years, the interior cockpit panels need to be removed. It was apparently under these panels that the hairline cracks were revealed. The Critic Mathematics Team is baffled – this means that the windows would have been replaced prematurely, when the aircrafts were only three years old, in order for the eight-yearly inspection to be taking place now.

With explanations such as these, the credibility of Air New Zealand has been questioned. The delayed Otago student Critic spoke to vented, “Air New Zealand is supposed to be our leading airline. How am I meant to trust them in the future after such a fundamental fuck-up?”

Air New Zealand provided other forms of transportation to affected passengers such as later flights and connecting bus services, which extended one Otago Student’s two-hour flight to a nine-hour scenic drive. Perhaps Jetstar isn’t so bad after all.