AIR - Air NZ.

[macduffy]

Is it easier to off-load a few lower-fare passengers than to explain to a regular freight customer why you had to offload their valuable cargo?

[Rep]

Is it easier to off-load a few lower-fare passengers than to explain to a regular freight customer why you had to offload their valuable cargo?

Sure it is macduffy. It's apparently much easier to take an elderly passenger, who doesn't fly often, off the aircraft, then give her a traumatic experience and deny her food and water for eight or nine hours - whilst erroneously telling them as a result of being offloaded that they would have to pay for their accommodation, meals and other costs for 14 days in quarantine and relying on the compassion of the police to comfort her whilst in distress. I mean stuff does go wrong but a small serving of compassion from the staff of our national carrier might have made it slightly less distressing.

As Alan Martin of LV Martin once pledged "If it's not right, we'll put it right and it's the putting right that counts."

"When we first got off the plane they told us we could ring our family to come and pick us up. The elderly lady was very distressed and crying," Solomon said...

In an email to the Herald the daughter of the elderly traveller said the nine-hour ordeal was traumatic for her mum who was not a keen flyer at the best of times.

"It was after 9pm before she finally got to the hotel and 9.30 before she was given dinner. She was not even offered so much as a cup of tea or coffee. She is normally a very anxious person and is frightened of flying so the whole experience was quite traumatic...not helped by her being 78."

"She was quite frightened by the yelling and screaming of some of the people who were offloaded with her. Apparently an older male policeman sat and chatted to her and that was comforting."

Added her mum, "We were not given anything to eat or drink until just before we left the airport and that was a very small plastic container of water and either a tiny pack of chips or a bliss ball and we didn't get dinner until 9.30 and all meals were cold. It was a long time from check in at 12.30 until we got a cold meal at 9.30."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12345683

[macduffy]

Exactly, Rep. Unfortunately, there isn't an emoji for expressing a blend of sarcasm and disgust to accompany my post #17775.

[Rep]

No foul macduffy, it obligated me to provide context as to the sheer nastiness of the whole affair.

My mother doesn't fly often either and all I'm asking is whether we would the same thing to happen to our parents, grandparents, partner or child and be given the same level of disdain.

[kyanar]

Is it easier to off-load a few lower-fare passengers than to explain to a regular freight customer why you had to offload their valuable cargo?

Offloading cargo would likely draw the ire of the government, as with so few planes flying cargo space is more of a premium than passenger space. The government is also part paying for some cargo to be shipped just to keep exporters in business.

[winner69]

Makes a good story but surely just a coincidence ....10 of the 11 off loaded were Maori

https://nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic...ectid=12345864

[dobby41]

Off load 3 kids, who were booked as adults as they aren't taking unacompanied minors, is unfortunate.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12345864

[winner69]

Off load 3 kids, who were booked as adults as they aren't taking unacompanied minors, is unfortunate.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12345864

I wondered how they got through check in if AIR not accepting unaccompanied kids ...would have been dad’s problem to fix then

[traineeinvestor]

I wondered how they got through check in if AIR not accepting unaccompanied kids ...would have been dad’s problem to fix then

Children can fly alone from age 12: https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/spec...-alone-airband

[winner69]

Children can fly alone from age 12: https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/spec...-alone-airband

That seems to say not for international at the moment.