In a country where small aircraft stitch together a long and scattered land, Air New Zealand's chief executive has declined to promise that every regional thread will hold. Speaking in August 2026, Nikhil Ravishankar pointed to the Iran crisis and its ripple through global fuel markets as the force most likely to determine which communities stay connected and which do not. The airline is adapting — optimising schedules, expanding interlining partnerships with smaller carriers, and accepting government support — but adaptation is not the same as assurance, and the gap between the two is where r