Mainly because we own it, it's our national airline and, overall, it's been fantastically successful. If you're balanced there isn't a lot of reason to be as angry towards it as so many people are.
But on the same day the CEO came on this show to break the news they have engine troubles that will affect thousands over the next two years, he then attends a tourism summit and talks about supersonic and hypersonic travel.
In that, is a messaging problem.
Air New Zealand gets a lot of free publicity mainly because aviation is a fascinating area. As New Zealanders we like to travel and a lot of journalists get freebies and that’s free PR.
Small note by the way - to those in the media who do reviews of trips that involve business class travel, of which I have read two lately - it's OK to be thrilled given you have never been in business class before. But that’s not really a review and good reviews make comparisons and you can't compare things that you haven't experienced. So it sounds more breathless freebie than actual journalism.
Anyway, this past week we have had coverage of Air New Zealand's Koru Club changes, re-useable cups and their new uniform. Ms Wickstead of royal connection is doing the honours.
All of that is fantastic, as long as you can catch a plane, afford a ticket and get through an airport in good order. All of those are now issues or have been for some time.
So, in other words, co-ordinate that messaging. Stop banging on about sustainability and cups and uniforms when you are inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of punters who are paying through the nose for what many regard as average product.
Stop fantasising about flying to London in four hours when you're offering ATR's between main centres.
What Covid has taught us is aviation is fragile. It has massive engineering issues, capacity issues, service issues and labour issues.
Airports are OK at best, with the odd one actually what you would call first world. In other words, for all the hype and romance of the rhetoric, when push comes to shove it hasn’t advanced all that much in decades, with the exception of longer haul, point-to-point services.
Get some engines that work, get jets on main trunk routes, drop prices, increase competition and work out the airport experience.
Be as climate friendly as you want but until then, let's leave the hypersonic to the Jetsons, because it was as real then as it is now.
Which is to say, not very.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
Air New Zealand gets a lot of free publicity mainly because aviation is a fascinating area. As New Zealanders we like to travel and a lot of journalists get freebies and that’s free PR.
Small note by the way - to those in the media who do reviews of trips that involve business class travel, of which I have read two lately - it's OK to be thrilled given you have never been in business class before. But that’s not really a review and good reviews make comparisons and you can't compare things that you haven't experienced. So it sounds more breathless freebie than actual journalism.
Anyway, this past week we have had coverage of Air New Zealand's Koru Club changes, re-useable cups and their new uniform. Ms Wickstead of royal connection is doing the honours.
All of that is fantastic, as long as you can catch a plane, afford a ticket and get through an airport in good order. All of those are now issues or have been for some time.
So, in other words, co-ordinate that messaging. Stop banging on about sustainability and cups and uniforms when you are inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of punters who are paying through the nose for what many regard as average product.
Stop fantasising about flying to London in four hours when you're offering ATR's between main centres.
What Covid has taught us is aviation is fragile. It has massive engineering issues, capacity issues, service issues and labour issues.
Airports are OK at best, with the odd one actually what you would call first world. In other words, for all the hype and romance of the rhetoric, when push comes to shove it hasn’t advanced all that much in decades, with the exception of longer haul, point-to-point services.
Get some engines that work, get jets on main trunk routes, drop prices, increase competition and work out the airport experience.
Be as climate friendly as you want but until then, let's leave the hypersonic to the Jetsons, because it was as real then as it is now.
Which is to say, not very.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
It shocks me that we have to pay $850 for a return airfare from auckland to blenheim on a tiny prop plane. It does take the word " ripped off" to a new level. In the uk a flight from london to edinburgh on a 1st world jet travelling approx the same distance, costs approx £40 quid each way ($90nzd )
Firstly, it has needed to be bail d out a couple of times, so not the best airline in the world as far as taxpayers goes.
Secondly they ream out those of us in the provinces. Undercut anyone that tries to compete, then ramp the prices after they have gone. Better yet, how often does your flight finish up being a bus ride with some bland excuse. Far to often for what is being claimed as some amazing national airline. I try to use it as little as possible. Certainly never on a long haul.
Maybe those in the Kory club, business class, out of Auckland or Wellington, get a good service. The rest of us, yeah nah, they don't care.
Not only is the service below par (both on-board and schedule reliability), we suffer the indignity of being force-fed made-up Maori for the flight duration (at least on jets). When the 'Quiz' screens drop down we get get to see how there are Maori words (bearing no resemblance to anything recognizable) for each and every country on the planet and for each and every element in the periodic table, for example. Waste upon waste.
On RNZ we were told that the hunt for microscopic cracks did not pose a danger. That is so....as long as remain microscopic.... The existance of extend one larger ones usually become evident when the crash wreckage is pieced together.
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