Luxon Airlines had to steer a commercial flight to Tokyo this week after its 757 broke down during a stopover in Papua New Guinea.
Ms Collins was questioned about the breakdown by a select committee during Parliament’s week of scrutiny.
This is a politically tricky issue because no one wants to spend a lot of money on something called the “prime ministerial plane”, but the new Defence Secretary, Air Marshal Tony Davis, wanted to remind New Zealanders that the plane does more than just ferry the prime minister.
“To highlight how busy this plane has been, there have been 96 flights in the last three months and during those 96 flights there have been some minor technical issues, but only one issue that resulted in a change of mission.”
The two-hour select committee meeting also addressed the broader issue of investment in the defence forces.
Collins spoke of the sadness he felt when he took over the role and realized the current state of the police department.
“I felt morale was low. I felt like there was an atmosphere that the defense had done the job they were supposed to do and they basically had to apologize.”
But she felt things were changing for the better.
“I’m very hopeful about defense right now. I think my colleagues in government understand how important defense is, especially in this very geopolitically unstable world.”
Labour MPs on the committee thought the government had not gone far enough.
Defence Ministry spokesman Peeni Henare said he did not believe the government was taking defence issues seriously.
“Given the downward trend in the defence budget over the next five years, it is hard to see these issues being resolved,” Labour’s Damien O’Connor said.
Collins dismissed the idea, saying O’Connor had not seen the Defence Capabilities Plan (DCP).
It’s a plan outlining defense investment options for the near term, with Collins expecting to provide further details later this year.
Collins said that’s important.
“I think we live in very difficult times.
“Everything is changing so quickly, we need to try harder.”
But Henare said the DCP was already in existence.
“You can’t improve defenses just by reports. You need funding.”
RNZ