Air New Zealand builds on year-on-year operational gains as new technology improves disruption recovery

While on-time performance eased from 86 percent in June, the result was a significant improvement from the same time last year, despite weather-related delay minutes being 74 percent higher year on year.  

Air New Zealand's Chief Operations Officer, Ground and In-Flight, Kate Boyer says the results show the airline is making progress in the areas that matter most to customers. 

"Compared with July last year, more of our flights arrived on time and we had 246 fewer cancellations, despite dealing with significantly more weather disruption. 

"We're particularly encouraged to see improvements right across the network. International on-time performance improved by more than nine percentage points, while Auckland, our largest and most complex operation, improved by almost 10 percentage points. 

"We know reliability is one of the things our customers value most. Our focus is on reducing disruption in the first place, and when it does happen, recovering quickly and making the experience as easy as possible for our customers." 

One of the largest contributors to the year-on-year improvement was a 41 percent reduction in reactionary delay minutes – when a delay to one flight has a knock-on effect on other flights later in the day. Compared with July last year, 1,366 fewer flights were affected by these knock-on delays. 

"Reducing reactionary delays is important because it's not just about the first disrupted flight. The faster we can recover, the better chance we have of preventing that disruption from affecting customers travelling later in the day," Kate says. 

Cancellations also improved significantly compared with July last year. Total cancellations fell 1.6 percentage points to 2.8 percent, equating to 246 fewer cancellations, while cancellations within Air New Zealand's control fell 1.2 percentage points to 1.0 percent, or 184 fewer cancellations. 

While the airline is focused on preventing disruption and recovering its operation more quickly, it is also investing in making the experience easier for customers when disruption can't be avoided.  

One of those investments is Air New Zealand's Automated Passenger Rebooking (APR) technology, first introduced for domestic flights in mid-2025, and now being extended to international cancellations. 

Before APR, rebooking customers following a cancellation could take hours – and for some long-haul cancellations, as long as four to six hours. With automation in place, most customers even on our largest aircraft can be rebooked in under 20 minutes, giving them certainty about their new flights sooner and the ability to move themselves onto another flight if there is an option that better suits. 

The technology also frees up Air New Zealand's customer teams to focus on more complex itineraries and customers who need additional care. 

"Even with a more resilient operation, there will always be things like weather that we simply can't control. So alongside reducing disruption, we also need to make the experience better when it does happen. 

"We've had great feedback from both our customers and our teams since APR was first introduced domestically last year, and we're now hearing the same from the international rollout. 

"Going from potentially hours to minutes for most  rebookings is a huge improvement for our customers. It means they have certainty sooner and more control over what happens next, while our teams can focus their time on customers with more complex journeys or those who need extra care and support. 

"It's a good example of the two things we're focused on – reducing disruption wherever we can and looking after our customers better when things don't go to plan," Kate finishes.   

Over July 2026, the airline operated 13,397 flights across its domestic and international network. 

Alongside its passenger operation, Air New Zealand carried 14,149 tonnes of cargo across its network during July, including 370 tonnes of frozen seafood and salmon exported to North America.