I'm pleased to hear it - kudos to management for reacting quickly.

What concerns me is that it seems like NZ has not really thought through its business class offering. While the Y class product has not really changed a great deal (the food has been reduced a bit, but you still get fed, watered, entertained etc and the environment around you is an improvement over the outgoing aircraft) the business product has been dumbed down quite a bit: from a product that was virtually indistinguishable from long-haul business in almost every aspect from seats to catering to service, to something more akin to the European-style business class product. (Yes, I know the new NZ J seats are much better than you would get in Europe, but they are quite a step down from the old ones in terms of pitch and recline.) The thing is, in Europe business class and full Y class cost virtually the same; you are paying mostly for the flexibility of the ticket, plus slightly better catering, drinks, lounge access etc. Under NZ's fare structure, by contrast, business class is about 50% more than fully flexi and (here's what I think is really silly) you still have to pay change fees etc. I realise that ticket prices for business have come down too, but what people will look at is the premium you pay over economy class. Part of the problem is that the economy class offering is still very good from the point of view of comfort and service, so combined with the new fare structure that does away with Saturday night stays and the relative shortness of the sectors, NZ really needs quite a compelling business class offering to make people pay the extra over economy. The other problem is customer perception, in that to appease shareholders and scare the competition, NZ have promoted Tasman Express as much cheaper and more streamlined, so the perception on the street is that it is a 'no frills' service. A no frills service with a premium class is sending out a real mixed message, especially if the premium class is not differentiated enough...

What does everyone else think?