Latest / Best of Business / Baden Smith: Air NZ General Manager of Strategy, Networks and Fleet on the airline's Dreamliners receiving a makeover

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Baden Smith: Air NZ General Manager of Strategy, Networks and Fleet on the airline's Dreamliners receiving a makeover · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: In New Zealand's Dreamliner is going to get a makeover.
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  Speaker 2: New seats, new carpets, new curtains, new screens, new business
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  Speaker 2: premier cabin. They've got fourteen of these things are being
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  Speaker 2: sent one by one to Singapore for the makeover over
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  Speaker 2: the next two years.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: Baden Smith is in New Zealand's general manager of Strategy
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  Speaker 2: Networks in fleet. Hey, Biden, Hi, Heather, Hey, So how
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  Speaker 2: different is it going to look?
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  Speaker 3: Oh?
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  Speaker 4: Look, there's going to be a number of changes. We
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  Speaker 4: have an entirely new business class cabin with new seats
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  Speaker 4: up there and a new product at the front.
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  Speaker 3: Of the plane.
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  Speaker 4: We've got new premium economy seats, new economy seats, a
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  Speaker 4: new and flight entertainment system, and some big changes with
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  Speaker 4: some of the soft furnishings as well.
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  Speaker 3: So it'll be a pretty major makeover.
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  Speaker 2: Are you going to ditch the herring bone seating that
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  Speaker 2: you've got in business.
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  Speaker 4: Where the current seat will be going It will be
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  Speaker 4: a new seat that has a very small side facing
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  Speaker 4: element to it, but certainly not as wait.
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  Speaker 2: Because if you go to business in other airlines like
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  Speaker 2: maybe Quantus of Figi Airlines or whatever, you just have
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  Speaker 2: the two seats sitting next to each other facing forward.
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  Speaker 2: Are you saying you're not doing the facing forward? You're
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  Speaker 2: you're still doing a bit of an angle.
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  Speaker 4: It'll be a little bit of an angle, but it's
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  Speaker 4: the right thing to do in terms of making sure
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  Speaker 4: that we've got the most comfort that we can get
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  Speaker 4: on the seat and making use of the space which
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  Speaker 4: is at a premium on aircraft.
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  Speaker 2: Did I see that you've got some new seats A
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  Speaker 2: business Luck seat.
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  Speaker 3: Business Lucks? Is that Premier Lux? So that's at the
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  Speaker 3: very front row.
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  Speaker 4: There's four seats on this aircraft that will be Bunsin's
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  Speaker 4: Premier Lux, which is has a has a few extra
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  Speaker 4: sort of features about it and a little bit more
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  Speaker 4: space for those lucky customers.
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  Speaker 2: What are the other features?
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  Speaker 3: What's that? Sorry?
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  Speaker 2: What are the other features?
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  Speaker 3: The other features are?
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  Speaker 4: It's basically has a bit more privacy and a little
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  Speaker 4: bit more space and a bit more stowage up there.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, now, how have you ended up then with fewer
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  Speaker 2: seats across the plane? Because it goes from it goes
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  Speaker 2: down to two hundred and seventy two from what well.
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  Speaker 4: We've got two different configurations currently, there's a three hundred
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  Speaker 4: and two seat configuration and a two hundred and seventy
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  Speaker 4: five seat configuration. So the first thing is is that
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  Speaker 4: the three hundred and two seat configurations are the first
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  Speaker 4: ones that are going in for this overhaul. They're going
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  Speaker 4: to have many more premium seats the ones that are
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  Speaker 4: going in when they come out. And the two hundred
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  Speaker 4: and seventy five seat configuration is going to two seventy
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  Speaker 4: two as well, So it'll end up across the fourteen
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  Speaker 4: to seven sevens that we've currently got just one configuration,
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  Speaker 4: but generally more premium seats than we have today.
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  Speaker 2: And so are you still going to have the kind
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  Speaker 2: of like the neon pink and purples and blues and
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  Speaker 2: stuff and there are you changing the color scheme?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, the color schemes for us are pretty important and
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  Speaker 4: they've been worked on and they'll be ever so slightly
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  Speaker 4: different to this new aircraft and are will be pretty exciting.
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  Speaker 2: Oh cool, bad and can't wait to see it. Thanks mate,
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  Speaker 2: appreciate It's Baden Smith from in New Zealand.
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