Seventy-five years of keeping New Zealand flying.

In 2026, Fieldair Aviation Solutions marks 75 years of aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul in New Zealand and the Pacific. From a single Tiger Moth and a very unfortunate goose, to a CAA Part 145 certified MRO organisation trusted by private owners, commercial operators, and airlines across New Zealand and the Pacific. This is the story of how Fieldair got here.

 

 

The beginning: Palmerston North, 1951

Fieldair was founded in 1951 by Lawson Field, taking root in Gisborne at a time when New Zealand’s aviation industry was still finding its wings. The country’s airstrips were rough, its aircraft were workhorses, and the people who kept them flying had to be resourceful, skilled, and completely unafraid of getting their hands dirty.

In those early years, agricultural aviation was the heartbeat of the business. Topdressing, the aerial spreading of fertiliser across the steep and often inaccessible hill country of the North Island, was rapidly transforming New Zealand farming, and Fieldair’s engineers were at the heart of it. The aircraft they maintained were not glamorous. They were practical, often patched, and perpetually busy.

It is from this era that Fieldair’s most enduring piece of folklore originates. The story of the Strangled Goose, involving a company Tiger Moth pilot, an uncooperative bird, and a forced landing that somehow ended with the pilot retrieving his dinner, became the stuff of New Zealand aviation legend. A local farmer reportedly told the tale for years, describing the aerial chase as taking the better part of half an hour and narrowly clearing his trees. The hapless goose gave its name to what became the company’s original logo, and to a spirit of pragmatic, determined ingenuity that still runs through Fieldair today.

 

Growing with New Zealand aviation

Through the 1960s and 1970s, Fieldair grew alongside the industry it served. As aircraft became more sophisticated, so did the capabilities required to maintain them. The company began building genuine depth across engines, instruments, avionics, and electrical systems, not just airframe maintenance.

Engine overhaul became a cornerstone of the business. Fieldair engineers developed particular expertise in radial engines, including the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior, the Wasp, and the Double Wasp, which were the power plants of choice for the de Havilland Beaver and Otter aircraft operating extensively across Australasia. This was specialist knowledge that few organisations in the region could match, and it helped establish Fieldair’s reputation well beyond the Manawatū.

By the 1970s, the company had grown to encompass a full instrument and avionics repair facility, an aero-electrical workshop, and a supply department that could source parts for the wide variety of aircraft types flying across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The breadth of capability was becoming a genuine point of difference. Operators could come to Fieldair and find almost everything they needed under one roof.

 

A national footprint

As its reputation grew, so did Fieldair’s geographic reach. The company moved its main base from Gisborne to Palmerston North around 1953, establishing the operational home it would build from for decades to come. From there it went on to establish certified repair facilities in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, forming a genuinely national network at a time when most aviation engineering businesses operated from a single location. This gave operators across the country access to Fieldair’s expertise without the cost and disruption of long ferry flights.

The Palmerston North base remained the operational heart of the business. It was here that the main hangar hummed with activity, that heavy maintenance and deep overhauls were carried out, and that the supply department built what one manager memorably described as a “supply supermarket” for the aviation industry, stocked with parts, spares, and the know-how to source what wasn’t already on the shelf.

The Pacific also became an important part of Fieldair’s world. Airlines across New Zealand and the Pacific valued having a trusted MRO partner they could rely on, and Fieldair built lasting relationships by offering responsive, flexible support that understood the practical realities of operating aircraft in the region.

“The ‘Fieldair Way’ embodies much about what it is to be a New Zealander. It reflects an ability to think outside the square and offer outstanding customer service.” — Charles Giliam, former General Manager, Fieldair Holdings Limited

The Freightways chapter

Fieldair’s membership of the Freightways Group of Companies brought with it the resources, infrastructure, and stability of one of New Zealand’s leading transport and logistics organisations. The relationship deepened Fieldair’s involvement in the design and manufacture of air and road cargo equipment, including freight containers, collapsible pallet systems, and ground support equipment that would find their way into airports and freight networks across the Pacific and Australasia.

Ground support equipment became a significant part of the business in its own right. Air stairs, ramp equipment, nitrogen bottle carts, engine dollies, baggage trolleys, aircraft maintenance platforms, and potable water carts were all designed and built by Fieldair engineers. The company’s aircraft wheel dollies were recognised by Airbus as capable of handling the main and nose wheels of the entire Airbus range, a mark of engineering credibility that spoke to the quality of the team.

 

Fieldair today: CAA Part 145 certified MRO

In 2026, Fieldair Aviation Solutions is a CAA Part 145 certified Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul organisation and one of the most capable and experienced MRO providers in New Zealand. The Part 145 certification is not a formality. It represents an ongoing commitment to the rigorous quality, safety, and regulatory standards that aviation demands, maintained consistently across every job that comes through the door.

The services Fieldair offers today span the full spectrum of aircraft maintenance: scheduled and unscheduled airframe maintenance for fixed wing, rotary, and jet aircraft; engine overhaul and repair; instruments and avionics installation and certification; aero-electrical services; aircraft parts procurement and supply; and AOG support for operators who need urgent assistance to get an aircraft back in the air.

The team that delivers these services is Fieldair’s greatest asset. Decades of accumulated knowledge and hands-on experience sit within the organisation, held by engineers who have worked on hundreds of aircraft types, supply specialists who know where to find parts that others can’t locate, and a procurement team who can respond quickly when an operator is grounded and every hour matters.

Seventy-five years, and still flying

Milestones like this one invite reflection, but at Fieldair, the focus has always been on what comes next. The aviation industry is changing, with new aircraft types, evolving regulatory frameworks, advancing avionics, and the growing complexity of the Pacific’s air network all presenting both challenge and opportunity. Fieldair intends to meet them the same way it always has: with skilled people, genuine expertise, and a commitment to doing the job properly.

“As we recognise this anniversary, I want to personally thank you. Your trust, loyalty, and long-term partnerships have played a major role in shaping Fieldair into the organisation it is today.” — Nolan King, General Manager, Fieldair Aviation Solutions

Looking ahead, Fieldair’s focus remains on investing in people, capabilities, and facilities, ensuring the organisation can continue to support New Zealand aviation, and the wider Pacific, with the same professionalism that has defined it for three quarters of a century.

Seventy-five years is a long time in any industry. In aviation, where standards are exacting, margins for error are zero, and the trust placed in an MRO is absolute, it represents something genuinely significant. Fieldair has earned that trust, one aircraft at a time, since 1951.

Whether you are a longstanding Fieldair customer or new to the organisation, we would love to hear from you as we celebrate this milestone. Get in touch with our team.