Taking flight: How Air New Zealand brokered its Dreamliner revamp deal amid Covid lockdowns

Air New Zealand had to overcome an escalating wave of crises to get its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner retrofit programme under way after Covid-19 grounded the airline . The pandemic paralysed aviation , delivering Air New Zealand multibillion-dollar losses and a Government bailout during the following three years. Alongside the financial strain, supply chain upheaval significantly reduced manufacturing and production, from parts to fully built aircraft.

The airline had planned to receive Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2021, but those plans had to be thrown out the window. Geopolitical tensions also had an impact, with engineers from Boeing’s Global Services business forced to leave and join military efforts in Ukraine and Russia..