It started as a lark. GE Aviation’s David Kelly and his colleague Rachel Wagner were working up a bid to supply engines for a fleet of new Boeing Dreamliners three years ago. Since the client, Air New Zealand, had used Rolls-Royce engines for the past 15 years, the whole venture seemed rather quixotic. Success seemed so remote, in fact, that Kelly, GE Aviation’s sales director for Air New Zealand, agreed to jump off the Sky Tower in Auckland if they won the deal.
Adventure-seeking bungee jumpers, “Lord of the Rings” fans and hunters of colossal squid have another reason to check out the remote Pacific Island nation of New Zealand: Air New Zealand is expanding its fleet of long-distance jets that can fly nonstop to this faraway wonderland.