New Zealand Short Haul Strike December 18, 2025 Flights

Published on Dec 5, 2025, 9:01 am CST

8 min read

Key points

Air New Zealand has confirmed that all cabin crew strike notices for December 8 are withdrawn and the full network will operate as scheduled
A single strike notice for December 18, 2025 remains in place for short haul cabin crew on narrowbody jets serving domestic trunk, Tasman, and Pacific Island routes
Regional turboprop and long haul widebody flights are expected to operate normally under current notices, reducing the risk of passengers being stranded offshore
If the December 18 strike proceeds, Air New Zealand says it will offer rebooking, meals, and accommodation where required and will give at least five days notice of any cancellations or timetable changes
The greatest disruption risk sits on busy corridors such as Auckland to Wellington and Christchurch, plus Tasman and Fiji flights, where selective cancellations or retimes are most likely
Travelers can hedge by shifting dates away from December 18, routing via Australia on other carriers, or splitting itineraries so at least one long haul leg is protected

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect any strike driven cancellations or heavy delays to concentrate on Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, and short haul routes to Australia and the Pacific
Best Times To Fly: Early morning and late evening services on December 18, 2025 are most likely to be preserved if the airline trims peak daytime banks on trunk and Tasman routes
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Same day domestic connections into or out of Auckland for Tasman and Pacific flights on December 18 carry elevated misconnect risk and should be lengthened or moved
Onward Travel And Changes: Travelers with nonrefundable hotels, tours, or cruise departures on December 18 or 19 should consider moving at least one flight leg to another date or carrier where possible
What Travelers Should Do Now: Hold existing bookings but watch for Air New Zealand updates from about December 13, pre plan alternates, and avoid separate tickets or tight connections that depend on December 18 short haul flights

Air New Zealand has now confirmed that all cabin crew strike notices for December 8, 2025 have been withdrawn, removing the immediate threat of a full network shutdown across New Zealand and long haul routes. At the same time, one focused notice remains in place for December 18 that would affect short haul cabin crew on the airline's narrowbody jets, sharpening the risk for New Zealand short haul strike flights at the height of the holiday build up. Regional turboprop operations and long haul intercontinental services are no longer covered by current notices, which means most disruption risk on December 18 now concentrates on domestic trunk, Tasman, and Pacific Island corridors.

In plain terms, the New Zealand short haul strike flights threat on December 18, 2025 now focuses on Air New Zealand's Airbus A320 family jets that connect Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch with each other, with key regional cities, and with destinations across the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific, while regional turboprops and long haul widebodies continue to operate under separate agreements.

What Changed Between December 8 And December 18

When strike notices were first issued in late November, unions representing around 1,200 cabin crew signaled a 24 hour walkout on December 8 across regional, domestic jet, and international fleets, plus a further day of action on December 18, creating a double hit for pre Christmas travelers. After intensive bargaining, Air New Zealand and unions E tū and the Flight Attendants Association of New Zealand reached agreements in principle for turboprop and widebody crews, and those December 8 notices have now been fully withdrawn.

The remaining notice covers short haul cabin crew working on narrowbody Airbus A320 family aircraft, which operate domestic jet, Tasman, and Pacific services. Air New Zealand's latest travel alert confirms that there is "no impact" on current schedules and that regional and long haul networks will operate as normal, but it also acknowledges that if industrial action proceeds on December 18 some services on these jet routes may be adjusted. The airline has committed to giving customers at least five days notice before canceling or retiming flights in response to any strike, a window that would open around December 13.

For travelers, this marks a significant shift in risk profile. December 8, 2025, previously framed as a full network danger day, now looks stable, while December 18 has become a narrower but still serious threat focused on the backbones of New Zealand's domestic and regional international network.

Routes And Corridors Most Exposed On December 18

Under the current strike notice, risk clusters around three types of short haul routes. First are the domestic trunk corridors linking Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, plus jet services to Queenstown and Dunedin, where Air New Zealand leans heavily on A320 and A321 aircraft to move business and holiday traffic. Second are trans Tasman routes from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast, which feed both point to point travelers and long haul connections onto other carriers. Third are Pacific Island services to destinations such as Nadi in Fiji, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Niue, which often have limited same day alternatives.

If industrial action proceeds, the likely pattern is not a blanket cancellation of all short haul flights but a selective thinning of schedules, especially during peak banks late morning and late afternoon. That could mean trimming frequency on Auckland to Wellington and Auckland to Christchurch, consolidating some Tasman departures, and cutting or retiming lower frequency Pacific routes for the day. Air New Zealand has said it is working through scenario planning so that, if needed, it can adjust schedules in a way that still preserves core connectivity.

Travelers booked on regional turboprop services such as ATR 72 and Q300 routes, or on long haul Boeing 787 and 777 flights to North America and Asia, are not covered by the remaining strike notice and are expected to operate, although they may still feel indirect effects if domestic feeders into those flights are disrupted.

How Air New Zealand Says It Will Support Affected Travelers

In its latest travel alert, Air New Zealand states that if industrial action on December 18 goes ahead it will support customers with rebooking, meals, and accommodation where required. That typically means moving passengers to alternative flights, providing vouchers or reimbursements for food at the airport during extended delays, and arranging or reimbursing reasonable hotel costs plus ground transport when an overnight stay becomes necessary. Guidance on the airline's disruption pages suggests benchmark reimbursement caps of about $250.00 (NZD) per room per night and $90.00 (NZD) per person per night for meals when customers must source their own accommodation, with itemized receipts required.

For domestic flights within New Zealand, strikes by Air New Zealand staff are generally considered disruptions within the airline's control under Civil Aviation Act guidance, which can open up additional rights to proven and reasonable compensation for extra costs, up to a capped multiple of the ticket price. Internationally, rights are governed by a mix of Air New Zealand's conditions of carriage, Montreal Convention obligations, and local regimes in places like Australia and the European Union; in practice, the airline's own disruption policy promises either rebooking on Air New Zealand or partner airlines within defined time windows, or refunds where reasonable alternatives are not available.

Passengers should expect that weather, air traffic control, or third party issues on the same day could be treated differently from the cabin crew strike itself, so keeping receipts and documenting the reason for any delay or cancellation remains important when seeking reimbursement.

How Travelers Can Hedge Plans For December 18

For travelers who already hold tickets on Air New Zealand short haul flights on December 18, the key is to reduce dependence on a single vulnerable leg while avoiding premature changes that might prove unnecessary if a deal is reached. Because the airline has committed to giving at least five days warning before canceling or retiming flights, a practical decision point is around December 13, 2025, when any major schedule adjustments should start to appear.

Where itineraries allow, shifting nonessential trips off December 18 onto neighboring dates is the cleanest hedge, especially for leisure travelers with flexible hotel or holiday rental plans. For those with fixed commitments, such as cruise departures, tours, or weddings on December 18 or 19, building an extra day of buffer by arriving on December 17 can sharply reduce risk, particularly for Queenstown ski area transfers or connections into Pacific Island holidays.

On some Tasman and Pacific routes, routing via Australia or using competing carriers on at least one leg may also reduce exposure. For example, a traveler from Los Angeles to Fiji might choose to fly long haul into Sydney or Brisbane on a different airline, then connect to Nadi, rather than relying on a same day Air New Zealand Auckland to Nadi flight on December 18. Similarly, New Zealand domestic travelers could consider splitting tickets so a long haul flight to North America or Asia is preserved, while the domestic positioning leg is moved to another day or protected with a backup booking where budget allows.

The most fragile itineraries will be those that string together separate tickets with tight connection windows on December 18, such as a self built Auckland to Wellington domestic leg feeding an independently booked international flight, or a same day domestic round trip for a business meeting. In these cases, extending connection times, buying on a single ticket, or moving critical meetings by a day can greatly reduce the risk of being stranded.

Background On The Cabin Crew Dispute

The current standoff stems from negotiations between Air New Zealand and cabin crew unions E tū and FAANZ over pay, workload, and conditions for about 1,200 crew across regional, short haul, and long haul fleets. Earlier union statements emphasized an intent to minimize disruption by avoiding industrial action in the immediate week before Christmas and by keeping international crews available to ensure passengers were not stranded overseas, a stance reflected in the decision to remove strike notices covering long haul flights and turboprop services.

For its part, Air New Zealand has repeatedly said its priority is to reach a fair and sustainable agreement that recognizes crew contributions while protecting customers from disruption, and that progress in recent days has been enough to stand down the broader December 8 action. Both sides now face a compressed window to close the remaining gap for short haul cabin crew before December 18, 2025, when the narrowed strike threat would coincide with one of the busiest outbound travel days of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Travelers can track developments through Air New Zealand's travel alerts page, union announcements, and updated coverage from outlets in New Zealand, and should treat any new communication from the airline about schedule changes around December 18 as a prompt to check all linked reservations, from hotels and rental cars to tours and cruises. For deeper context on how strikes and labor actions tend to affect travel and what rights passengers have, Adept Traveler's earlier coverage of the original dual day strike plan, plus our evergreen guide on airline strikes and passenger rights, provide useful background reading alongside this update.