As the holiday season continues, Air New Zealand is asking customers to embrace the spirit of Christmas and show respect to fellow passengers and their staff who are working tirelessly to help New Zealanders reconnect with loved ones.
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer, Captain David Morgan, says the airline is seeing a concerning trend in unacceptable customer behaviour, with nearly 200 reports a month.
The severity and impact of these incidents have increased over time.
“Air New Zealanders who work both on the ground and in the air, work extremely hard to ensure our customers have a safe journey with us, but over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in some customers not showing them the respect they deserve.”
Holiday travel can be stressful, however, Captain Morgan says there is no excuse for taking this out on fellow passengers, Air New Zealand ground staff, cabin crew, or pilots.
“The large majority of our customers are fantastic and treat people with courtesy and respect, but unfortunately, there are some people who fly with us who refuse to follow instructions, verbally abuse other people, or are disruptive. We’ve recently also seen instances of people being physically abusive.”
“We have zero tolerance for such behaviour and will take action to ensure that abusive customers are no longer able to travel with us if needed to ensure the safety of our team and customers”.
These incidents not only pose challenges for Air New Zealand but also impact the comfort and safety of fellow travelers. The airline encourages customers to remember to be courteous and think of others this Christmas.
Air New Zealand also reminds customers that there can be consequences for disruptive and unruly behavior and engaging in such actions. Adherence to safety and crew instructions is paramount for the well-being of all passengers and our crew.
“We want to thank all of those customers who go the extra mile to say thank you to our frontline staff and are considerate of others – this makes such a difference to what are often long, busy days for our people at this time of year.”
Earlier last year, the International Air Transport Association released analysis outlining the global increase in unruly passenger incidents.
3 comments
As standards decline...
Posted on 01-01-2024 12:03 | By morepork
... "bad behaviour" is becoming more prevalent in all walks of life. Personal discipline, courtesy, and respect, are no longer generally valued as they were. People (like me... :-)) who still hold these values are considered "weak" or "old fashioned". The troubles in the world are so bad that many people feel lost and fearful, without leadership, and without hope of seeing the stupid wars stopped and their well-being being regained. Others are simply frustrated and angry because they see nothing but trouble and it is as if we have all moved to a collective "short fuse" where anger bursts out at the least provocation. As the world recovers from Covid and economies begin to improve, living standards will rise and there should be less pressure on all of us. Society decides what will be acceptable and what won't; you don't have to tolerate bad behaviour and rudeness.
What are they gonna do tho
Posted on 01-01-2024 12:40 | By Captain Hottie
Seriously what can they do with an unruly passenger? It's not like a bus or train they can just stop and turf them out. I assume there's no brig or we'd all want to be sent there. Even if you could chain them to their seat they'd still kick up a ruckus.
@Captain Hottie
Posted on 01-01-2024 21:17 | By morepork
The Pilot of an aircraft (PIC) has the same temporary authority as the Captain of a ship. In international air space FAA regulations apply. He can have someone "restrained" (tied to the seat) and gagged when necessary, if he considers that person's behaviour is endangering the flight or the people on it. Local police will detain the passenger on arrival and the airline will prefer charges. I know of several civil lawsuits arising out of this in the US, and there are probably others elsewhere. In every case I know of, the airline won. Your best bet is to behave yourself and not push the boundaries when you are in an aluminium shell, 5 miles above the Earth, travelling at 16 KM per minute... Besides, the staff have a lot to do and your berating them may be well remembered if you order drinks, or need to be restrained..
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