Air New Zealand cancels flights expected to affect 100,000 people
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About 100,000 passengers will be affected as Air New Zealand (Air New Zealand) cancels some flights due to staff shortages due to staff illness, RNZ reported. Those who have booked flights for the next few months are praying that they are not among the affected passengers.
Sarah has not travelled abroad for six years and now hopes that this month's dream vacation will go as planned.
She had booked the flight a few months ago but was annoyed when she heard Air New Zealand said passengers with cheap seats would be the first to be cancelled, thinking it was too bad and too unfair.
Sarah plans to travel from Christchurch to Auckland and then to Singapore, where she will take a flight to India.
"If they screw up any of these flights, my itinerary will be screwed up. I only have an hour of connecting time in Singapore to catch another flight."
Air New Zealand said domestic passengers whose flights changed could be diverted to another flight on the same day. For international passengers, they may be transferred to another flight on the same day of the original flight, or they may transfer to another flight one day earlier or one day later. If a passenger's flight cannot be rescheduled within these time frames, customers can make changes to their bookings online, apply for a refund credit, or apply for a refund.
ConsumerNZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the announcement omits important information about passenger rights. Domestic passengers are entitled to claim 10 times the fare or the actual cost of the delay (whichever is lower) if the flight cancellation is within the airline's control. Similar regulations apply to international flights, but vary by airline and country.
"We recognise this is a challenging time for all airlines and we applaud Air New Zealand for being proactive in addressing the upcoming capacity and scheduling issues," Duffy said. "We are not sure when this policy will start to impact. Passengers - the more notice Air New Zealand gives to passengers, the better. However, the Consumers Association is concerned that passengers affected by Air New Zealand's flight changes may not have full information about their rights."
He said if an airline offered a customer another flight that was not suitable, they could ask for a refund and for any extra costs incurred to reach the destination, such as accommodation and meals.
Kirsten Henry, from Auckland, has booked eight domestic flights this year, including the Great Walk to Queenstown.
"The travel I've booked is time-sensitive, and if I'm forced to take a later flight, that might mean I can't do these things."
She had booked up to a fully refundable flexi ticket but now regrets it, having spent hours waiting for a call from Air New Zealand's call centre last week to refund a family member's flight. She gave up and chose the website to apply for a refund credit limit.
"It annoys me that Air New Zealand sells these fully refundable tickets, but that's not true unless you're willing to spend hours on the phone waiting to speak to someone. You should be able to cancel online."
Air New Zealand said passengers were waiting up to five hours to call the call centre over the weekend as fog delayed many flights.
Brent Thomas, chief operating officer of HouseofTravel, said airlines need to be more forthcoming about passenger rights when flights are cancelled. Air New Zealand or other airlines flying over New Zealand have not made this clear. Affected customers need to be clearly identified.
"100,000 people will be affected in the next few months, which is a huge number," he said.
"I understand they don't want to disappoint people when it's close and they want to give as much notice as possible which is laudable, but let's not whitewash it. It's still a bummer for some of those affected. Things that people are upset about, they've been affected quite a bit."