AirNZ terrible offload process
 

Do you really think Air NZ have much of a say what happens to passengers who don’t board the flight??

It seems that this is what did the damage:

Was there no cargo that could have been offloaded?

Can Not is the correct wording, then the answer is yes they have a lot of say.

It seems their first "say" was incorrect and very poorly handled - a poor effort for a struggling industry. Time to treat passengers as people!

I
 

I say it’s time for people to harden the Fokker up and stop this weaponised offence talking. Not everything is going to go to plan for the next few years. Learn to deal with it.

There is more to this than meets the eye, apart from the appalling way the situation was handled.

One wonders if Australia denied entry to some passengers for whatever reason, and why was the flight sold to capacity?

...or maybe the drivers looked at the weather and decided min fuel wasn’t going to cut it? Wouldn’t be the first time

hmm. If I was offloaded due payload issues and forced into quarantine at my expense I’d be pretty pissed too.
yes things are not going to plan for many - pax and crew included - but from what’s presented here the airlines need to be aware of this situation for the future. Steps can be put in place to prevent this.

Something doesn’t add up.

11 pax - 1100kg (with bags) ish.

Yes more likely policy not offloading the precious cargo?

It always amazes me when paying pax offloaded instead of other items first!

Either way lesson learnt no doubt and it was initially puss poorly handled eh bro...

There were hysterical scenes at Auckland Airport on Saturday after 11 passengers were removed from an overloaded Air New Zealand flight to Brisbane before take-off and placed in quarantine until the next flight on Tuesday.
.Police were called to the Customs hall after the passengers became angry when Air New Zealand told them they would have to pay for their accommodation, meals and other costs in quarantine.

Desiraye Solomon and her daughter, Delia Brown, were on the flight returning to the Gold Coast after visiting her father in Wellington who had suffered a heart attack.

They offered to get off the full flight after the captain advised passengers it was overweight and off-balance, but other passengers were randomly picked off a list, she said.

Solomon said other passengers told they had to leave included an elderly woman, another mother and daughter, a mother with a young child and a group of four male teenagers.

"Someone else came off the plane and she was hysterical and screaming and carrying on. Apparently her mother had died and she was going to the funeral. They let her back on.

"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.

Once the passengers got to the Customs hall, she said, a Customs officer turned up and took people's temperatures.

"Then someone came around and said 'what hotel would you like?' and we were like 'what do you mean?' and they said 'you will have to quarantine'. Then we were all yelling and carrying on and the police were called," Solomon

She said the police were liaising between the passengers and Air NZ who were "hiding behind the corner because they didn't want to deal with the hostility".

Passengers were then given an Air New Zealand letter signed by an unnamed "airport manager" saying they would have to pay for quarantine accommodation and book their own flights.

Solomon said she was so angry she started yelling at Air New Zealand staff, who then gave passengers a second letter, which made no mention of the passengers paying for quarantine.

Air New Zealand has apologised to the passengers for the inconvenience and said they were given wrong information about quarantine when they disembarked.

Solomon said a police officer told the passengers they had to go into quarantine because Americans in transit were on the plane to Brisbane.

The passengers, she said, were sent to three hotels. Solomon and her daughter were sent to the M Social on the Auckland



She said Air New Zealand's handling of the situation was "pathetic and rude", saying she was irate and annoyed that passengers were first told their families could come and get them and then told that wasn't possible.

"I was p***d off that we had to quarantine but once the police said there were Americans on the flight I said 'of course, we are going to have to quarantine'. That's fine. We are not trying to start a pandemic," Solomon said.

Air New Zealand's customer general manager Liz Fraser said yesterday's flight to Brisbane had a larger-than-expected payload, "which unfortunately resulted in several passengers being unable to travel".

Unfortunately, she said, the affected customers were inadvertently provided a letter with incorrect information when they disembarked.

"Once our airport team realised the mistake, they regathered the passengers, apologised and provided our standard offload letter, which lets our customers know they have been rebooked on an alternative service and that the letter may be used to claim on travel insurance if required," Fraser said.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said when removing passengers from a flight the airline had a standard process which took into account a number of factors, including ticket type and loyalty level.

In a statement the Ministry of Health said because there were other people on the same flight who had travelled from other parts of the world on their way to Brisbane, the decision was made by health officials as a precaution for the 11 passengers to stay in managed isolation or quarantine facilities in Auckland until the next Brisbane flight on Tuesday.

"While the risk is minimal that one of the people would have contracted Covid-19 on the flight we need to act with caution as our borders are our first line of defence against Covid-19," the ministry said.

The Covid-19 All of Government Response Group also released a statement, saying the circumstances around the incident were unique and unexpected.

"While every effort was made to ensure those affected were kept informed, we appreciate some people and staff involved may have been initially uncertain as to what was happening.

"Accurate and consistent communication with returnees and those transiting through New Zealand is a priority and one we are constantly working to improve, as numbers increase.

"We acknowledge this situation and the requirement to go into managed isolation and quarantine may be unsettling for those affected however we are committed to protecting our border and stopping the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12345607

Too late to get the TAF now but it was beautiful flying weather at YBBN for their arrival

When I first read the Stuff headline, I though they were taking the p/$$. What was funny about it? Then normality sunk in. People were exhibiting wild and uncontrollable emotion. Really. Could have been worded a bit better.
Plainmaker

Load control would have known about a possible overweight situation long before boarding happened.

Because of their incompetence, people will be hundreds of dollars out of pocket for hotels and food.
​​​

We have no idea why the offload happened so to call load control "incompetent" is impertinent at best and ridiculous at worst

As I said - there is more to this than meets the eye

A Māori mother and daughter experienced "mayhem" after Air NZ insisted they and several other passengers disembark from an overweight flight from Auckland to Brisbane on Saturday.

The disembarking led to a distraught reaction from passengers, including an elderly lady making her fourth attempt to get to Australia, when they were told they would have to quarantine as they waited for planes later this week. That led to police being called to calm down the situation and later apologies from the airline and a defensive response from the Ministry of Health.

Desiraye Solomon (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Ngāpuhi) and her daughter, Delia Brown, were seated on Air NZ flight NZ151 preparing to return to the Gold Coast when they were told the flight was overweight and the airline would "unfortunately need to ask some passengers to disembark."

The two had returned to New Zealand in early June after Solomon's father suffered a heart attack and they had already gone through the required managed isolation period then.

Solomon says she and her daughter volunteered to disembark the flight as they were aware there were others who had waited months for a flight, such as passengers she knew were returning to Germany.

Other passengers required to disembark were randomly picked off a list, she says.

The passengers who disembarked included a group of teenage boys and a girl (aged between about 16 and 10 years old), a girl by herself, an elderly woman about 75 years old, a woman and her son and Solomon and her daughter.

Screaming hysterically

It was after the 11 passengers disembarked the aircraft that she says the mayhem unfolded and their problems began.

Solomon says one woman was screaming hysterically at the other end of the tunnel from her because she needed to return to Australia as her mother had died. She says the woman was allowed back on the flight.

While Solomon was waiting, she says she heard over an Air NZ staff member's RT that 30 people needed to be disembarked. When she asked if this was correct, she says the staff member turned off her RT.

Although they were initially met by Air NZ staff when they first stepped off the plane, Solomon says one of the staff subsequently opened a door and told them to go through to Customs, unescorted.

"There was no one there. I knew we shouldn't be wandering around randomly."

She says a Custom's officer eventually saw them and said, "Go back. Aren't you with an escort?"

Quarantine again

He then had them wait and returned with a Ministry of Health official who checked their temperatures and asked if they felt sick, she says.

Solomon says she felt alarmed when the official then began asking them "what room we wanted."

She immediately said, "What's going on? We're not quarantining," at which point she says the official "backed off."

Frustrated by the situation, she says she began yelling at the Air NZ staff who had now arrived to "tell us what's going on."

"We were so confused."

Solomon says she was worried a flight would arrive while they were waiting.

"I knew if we got mixed with a flight coming in, then we would definitely be quarantining."

Police attitude

She says an Air NZ staff member told her not to worry because no one was coming in. Solomon says she then heard a family coughing as they came through Customs and she decided to take a photo of them as proof of that.

At this point, she says a police officer yelled at her to delete the photos. Solomon alleges he came and stood over her, took her phone and deleted the pictures.

She says she felt his attitude towards her was "racist."

Solomon says she said to him, "We're tangata whenua here, this is our country and you're not letting us in. What's going on?"

She says he replied, "If you're tangata whenua, why are you leaving New Zealand? Cool your jets."

"I said: 'No I won't cool my jets'."

She asked for his badge number but says he did not reply.

Told to pay

To make matters worse, Solomon says Air NZ staff handed her a letter saying passengers would have to pay for their accommodation and book their own flights.

"At that point, I lost my sh*t."

She says she was so angry she "started screaming at the Air NZ lady 'There's no way we're going to pay for accommodation and flights'."

Solomon says the Air NZ person told her she would not have to pay for this, despite what the letter said.

"But that's not what the letter says," Solomon says she told the staff member.

She says a helpful police officer helped her resolve the issue with Air NZ and clarify the quarantine situation.

Calmed down

"The police officer said 'no I agree with you. They're going to get a new letter.'"

He also explained that they had to go into quarantine because there were Americans in transit on her flight but she would only have to quarantine until Tuesday.

"It all calmed down" after that, she says.

Solomon, who is now in managed isolation at a hotel in Auckland, says she and her daughter are doing fine now.

"I'm feeling fine now. Yesterday, I was f****ing sh**ty. If the NZ police weren't there I would have been ropeable. They were really good at mediating with Air NZ."

Solomon places the blame squarely on Air NZ.

"It was so ugly and messy with Air NZ and they were so ill-equipped to deal with it. How the hell does this happen?

Old lady crying

"I felt so bad for the old lady because she was crying and this was her fourth attempt to get back to Oz."

In a statement to Te Ao, Air New Zealand’s general manager customer Liz Fraser said: "Flight NZ151 from Auckland to Brisbane yesterday had a larger than expected payload, which unfortunately resulted in several passengers being unable to travel. We have to take into account the weather, wind speed and a number of other factors to ensure the aircraft is correctly weighted and balanced prior to takeoff, which does occasionally result in the offload of passengers. At present, customers travelling through to the Middle East on other airline tickets can travel with up to 40ks of checked baggage and this was also a factor with yesterday’s service to Brisbane.

"A member of our Airports team escorted the passengers through to Customs. However, she was at the back of the group assisting another passenger. The group was kept to the righthand side of the Customs area. Another arrival did take place while the group was gathered in the Customs hall. However, the inbound customers were processed through in small groups on the lefthand side of the hall, and were kept well away from the customers from the Brisbane flight. No customers came in contact or were near the other group.

"Unfortunately, the affected customers were inadvertently provided a letter with incorrect information when they disembarked – once our airport team realised the mistake, they re-gathered the passengers, apologised and provided our standard offload letter, which lets our customers know they have been rebooked on an alternative service and that the letter may be used to claim on travel insurance if required.

"The passengers who were offloaded are now required by the Ministry of Health to self-isolate in Auckland before continuing their journey.

"We are in contact with the customers concerned to arrange their onward travel and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused."

Protecting the border

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said that because there were other people on the same flight who had travelled from other parts of the world on their way to Brisbane, the decision was made by health officials as a precaution for the 11 passengers to stay in managed isolation or quarantine facilities in Auckland until the next Brisbane flight on Tuesday.

"While the risk is minimal that one of the people would have contracted Covid-19 on the flight, we need to act with caution as our borders are our first line of defence against Covid-19."

A Covid-19 All of Government Response Group spokesperson said the circumstances around this incident were unique and unexpected and, "while every effort was made to ensure those affected were kept informed, we appreciate some people and staff involved may have been initially uncertain as to what was happening.

"Accurate and consistent communication with returnees and those transiting through New Zealand is a priority and one we are constantly working to improve, as numbers increase.

"We acknowledge this situation and the requirement to go into managed Isolation and quarantine may be unsettling for those affected. However, we are committed to protecting our border and stopping the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand."

The Police said they were called at 4.30pm on Saturday to help manage 11 passengers who were offloaded from Air NZ151 flight to Brisbane at the Auckland International Airport.

"Police assisted the Ministry of Health in managing the passengers. We did not receive any complaints in relation to the incident mentioned.

"Any complaints can be made directly to Police or the Independent Police Conduct Authority."


https://www.teaomaori.news/distraugh...mayhem-follows

Anyone run the numbers? I truly can’t imagine they were overweight on a fine weather day unless they prioritised freight/fuel tankering over pax...
320 or 321?

A320Neo

One wonders if it was supposed to be an A321

Probably the Load Controller and the Captain.

CC

My last AirNZ trip was Sep 2019. B777 BNE-AKL 1.5 hrs late and I was bumped from Premium Economy to economy due over booked J class so everone back one. Return two days later A321 AKL-BNE suddenly delayed and three hours late on a domestic configured old A320. again lost my seat as no premium economy on that aircraft. Still waiting for the compensation. Wife and son in January LAX-AKL-BNE a toal of six hours late and no food etc in AKL provided.

How do they win these awards????

I once did a LHR - LAX — AKL with them and no food on any sector, first flight went without catering so provided a voucher for LAX which we didn’t use as we were 2 hours late and the only thing open through transit was a Burger King with such a long line we never got the food. On the next flight they said they would run a breakfast service half way, 60 mins before TOD the carts came out and at the row in front of the seatbelt sign came on and didn’t go off again. 12 months later after numerous complaints they refunded us $20 per ticket. That was the last time I flew international with them.