Plans are underway to replace two ageing Air Force planes amid breakdown concerns, the chief of the Air Force says.
Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark told 1News the Air Force is currently putting together a case for replacing the pair of Boeing 757 aircraft.
It comes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hitched a ride from the Queen's funeral in London to New York with the Canadian delegation rather than taking the 757, which is 30 years old.
Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has called on the Government to replace the ageing planes used to deliver NZDF equipment and transport VIPs.
"It's just too old. It's like having a 30-year-old car," said Mapp.
Clark said there were hopes that the fault-prone aircraft could be upgraded with something new or second-hand.
"Everyone wants to operate new stuff. But having said that there's a lot of affection out there amongst our aircrews for some of our oldest aeroplanes," he said.
He says that between employers outside the New Zealand Defence Force offering higher wages and newer aircraft, pilots have been lured away.
"Our remuneration is definitely out of kilter and it's not competitive now with the market outside the NZDF."
Figures obtained by the Act Party show that over the last five years, maintenance on the two planes has cost $70 million.
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