The air force's Boeing 757 aircraft, which fly the prime minister on overseas trips, have had thousands of mechanical faults and six safety incidents in recent years.
Details of the mechanical faults and maintenance costs, obtained by ACT Party defence spokesperson Dr James McDowall, show that since October 2017 more than $70 million had been spent on maintenance of the two Boeings.
A monthly tally shows that January and April this year were among the most costly, with more than $6m being spent each month. In May, one of the planes broke down in Washington DC while flying the prime minister.
"It is not operational costs, that is just maintenance and repair. To have spent that kind of money on two aircraft since late 2017, you would have thought the minister would have sought funds or figured out how to replace these things sooner.
"Clearly, they do need to be replaced.”
McDowall said the two Boeings – which were nearly three decades old – had an “extraordinary number” of breakdowns.
The two 757s have since October 2017 had a combined total of 1561 mechanical faults occur when the planes were not in planned maintenance. During maintenance, a total 2733 faults were recorded as occurring.
There had also been six safety incidents requiring the aircraft to divert or abort their task.
"You have got these aircraft flying important people around the world, government officials, the prime minister recently, and really there could even be a question of safety ... is that the safest way to transport such people?” McDowall said.
The Government needed to “stop kicking the can down the road” and replace the Boeings, he said.
He said ACT, if in Government, would seek to boost defence spending to 2% of GDP (gross domestic product), which could be afforded under its plan of slashing government spending elsewhere.
Defence spending reached 1.54% in 2020, according to the Government
Defence Minister Peeni Henare last week told a select committee the Government would soon be making “key decisions” in defence spending.
In response to written parliamentary questions from McDowall, he said the Defence Ministry was in the early stages, the “definition stage”, of considering replacing the aircraft.
“No decisions on replacement aircraft have been made,” Henare said.
Chief of Defence Air Marshal Kevin Short told the hearing there had been different availability issues with aircraft.
Engine overhauls for the Boeing 757 planes that once took 90 days were now taking 300 days and two extra engines had to be bought to make sure the aircraft could be available.
New aircraft are inbound. The Defence Forcewill receive new P8 Poseidon and Hercules aircraft in the coming year, purchased by the prior Labour-coalition Government.
Correction: The air force’s two Boeing 757s are nearly three decades old, not two decades old. The aircraft were purchased second-hand by the Air Force in 2003. (Updated: Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 20:50)
