Air New Zealand is blaming extreme weather for disruption to its new non-stop flight from New York to Auckland on Sunday.
Fifteen customers, on the Prime Minister's flight back from New York, had to volunteer to take alternative flights, to lighten the load in the face of unusually strong headwinds on the way.
It was not the new route's first hiccup, - 65 passengers on the inaugural flight arrived in Auckland last Monday without their bags, while passengers on a flight that departed New York on Friday nearly had to stop over in Fiji so the plane could refuel.
Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan spoke to Corin Dann.
