It’s not just all of us who have suffered from recent Hawaii flight diversions for a myriad of reasons. That also just happened to ABC’s Robin Roberts. Several hours ago, she posted on her Instagram feed, “The adventure continues…after 24 hour diversion it’s on to New Zealand. Immense gratitude to the @airnz staff for how they handled a challenging situation and to the ppl of Honolulu for being so gracious. Mahalo💛 #SaturdaySerenity🙏🏾
Robin, age 62, started the journey yesterday with a post saying, “Trying to make the best of flight being diverted to Honolulu until flooding subsides in Auckland. Hope all there are ok.” Totally unrelated to our story, the GMA star said she’s taking a break from the morning show on Thursday.
“After several months of planning, Glam Fam and I, we’re going to New Zealand! she said.” Of course, a detour to Hawaii and a day on the beach at Waikiki is almost never a bad thing, and it sounds like the entire thing went well. See more details below.
Honolulu as an airline diversion stop.
On Thursday, Roberts’ flight, Air New Zealand Flight 1, departed New York’s JFK at 9:06 pm and was headed to Auckland. What happened then is that tragic flooding in New Zealand created a situation wherein the airport was forced to close. That resulted in the flight diverting, and as you can see from the FlightAware map above, Honolulu was a logical place. The flight then headed about 1,500 miles northwest of its then-current position. While there were other diversion points beyond Hawaii, Honolulu is clearly well-equipped to handle such events and is also a regular gateway city for Air New Zealand’s international flights. The Boeing 789 Dreamliner pulled into Honolulu at 4:53 am on Friday.
Roberts was able to enjoy a beautiful day at the beach in Honolulu. This morning, Saturday, the flight resumed from Honolulu at 7:27 am and is due to arrive in Auckland Sunday at 4:24 pm.
Other flights to Auckland are canceled due to the flooding, including today’s Hawaiian Airlines flight and another Air New Zealand flight from New York.
Epic flooding in New Zealand caused the diversion.
Auckland is reported to have received “75% of its usual summer rainfall in just 15 hours.” A state of emergency was declared to help manage widespread flooding and evacuations.
The airport in Auckland was also flooded. Auckland departures were grounded until 5:00 am local time on Sunday or later, and no international arrivals are permitted before 7:00 am on Sunday.
Our thoughts go first and foremost to the people of New Zealand during this tragic weather event in which at least three people have already been killed.
Hawaii flight diversions of all kinds continue.
This is certainly a different type of diversion than the plethora of disruptive passenger flight diversions which have recently occurred. It also reminds us that Hawaii sits in the middle of a very long stretch of the eastern Pacific Ocean with few diversion points. The most recent (although entirely dissimilar) weather-related Hawaii flight event occurred on December 18, when bad weather en route caused mass injuries onboard Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35.
Lead photo: Robin Roberts’ Instagram
Just curious… Since this was a weather related diversion, does that mean that the air carrier did not pick up the cost to the passengers of the delay?
A few observations:
1. Once again, newly-elected Hawaiian Governor Josh Green is to blame for enabling this type of unconscionable and disruptive airline flight diversion situation. Equally as culpable are the majority of tourists and also, to a degree, the inhospitable locals. I say “Where is the Aloha?!?”
2. I demand an immediate investigation by the FAA as to why this Air New Zealand flight was not diverted to the island of Maui instead. Maui residents are sick and tired of being relegated to second-tier status in comparison to Oahu. We have a first class airport and multiple local touristic amenities that would have effectively welcomed the stranded Air NZ tourists. We will no longer abide this toxic Oahu-centric favoritism!
@Eldo Air New Zealand does not fly to Maui, they fly to HNL. So they need to divert to HNL because that’s where all of the Air New Zealand ground staff are to handle the flight. The same would be true of any other airline…first choice is to divert to an airport that is listed in their compamy’s Operation Specifications as a regular airport. The Governor has nothing to do with this situation.
Yikes! Auckland,New Zealand is absolutely beautiful. Interesting the weather is bad right now as they are opposite us.. it’s summer there. Incredible place. As to your comment I’m sure the pilot did what was determined the safest for his/her passengers. And really in my opinion (not that Maui isn’t amazing) Honolulu is far easier. Your airport isn’t located easily. Hotels either. I love Maui but for a quick over night stop, I don’t think it’s comparable to Honolulu. Just my opinion. But lucky you for being able to live there. Beautiful…
You say that Maui International Airport is not “located easier?” That’s simply not true. All major airlines’ modern aircraft have radar systems that can locate any airport. Even Air New Zealand. The pilot just has to flip a few switches and “voilá!” it’s done. You can trust me on that, I just googled it.
Also, Maui has a Costco that is right next to the airport… very tourist-friendly. Mahalo!
Kind of amazing to me that someone as well compensated as she is did fly a private jet?!!!!
Robin used public transportation, namely Air New Zealand, Not a private jet. I’m guessing she and her party had premium seats up front. Air New Zealand does offer lie flat seats on their longhaul flights.
You might be surprised to know that one time I flew from Japan along with some famous figure skaters who had been competing in Tokyo. We all had business class seats, even these famous figure skaters did not fly in first class.
Not too surprising to me . We had actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitch on Modern Family) with us on a Southwest flight when we flew to Maui last year.