OTP Accountability In New Zealand
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: NZ Koru
Posts: 6,411
OTP Accountability In New Zealand
Over the last 6months NZ’s OTP seems to be going down the drain, understanding that the 789s have caused them
major fleet issues although that isn’t all of it.
Should New Zealand bring in more regulation like the EU, to make the airlines responsible for there delays? For example an Passenger traveling on NZ has way less rights than an passenger traveling on EU registered airline in the event of an delay caused by operational reasons.
Every NZ flight I’ve had this year has been delayed by atlesst 30minutes, and some of the reasons are getting pretty pafectic. Sure I know at times delays can’t always be avoided, but some of them are comming down to NZ being cheap and too cost effective while no one holding them accountable.
For example last night NZ734 left BNE around 45minutes late, for reason accouced “delayed departure due to cleaners running late”. It’s constantly little things like this happening on the Tasman since NZ saved an few dollars and switched to SwissPort in Australia. Yet there seems very little accountability to the OTP, apart to booking other airlines now on....
major fleet issues although that isn’t all of it.
Should New Zealand bring in more regulation like the EU, to make the airlines responsible for there delays? For example an Passenger traveling on NZ has way less rights than an passenger traveling on EU registered airline in the event of an delay caused by operational reasons.
Every NZ flight I’ve had this year has been delayed by atlesst 30minutes, and some of the reasons are getting pretty pafectic. Sure I know at times delays can’t always be avoided, but some of them are comming down to NZ being cheap and too cost effective while no one holding them accountable.
For example last night NZ734 left BNE around 45minutes late, for reason accouced “delayed departure due to cleaners running late”. It’s constantly little things like this happening on the Tasman since NZ saved an few dollars and switched to SwissPort in Australia. Yet there seems very little accountability to the OTP, apart to booking other airlines now on....
#2
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,095
My view is the exact opposite. OTP was a complete and utter cluster*uck but as of the last few months it's been vastly improved (and stats show that).
Out of my last 10 flight in March and April the last 8 have been on time, flight 9 was delayed, and 10 on time. Compare that to the period of late 2018 - early 2019 where I flew something like 22 flights without having two consecutive flights in a row that were on time. The final straw being a 1 3/4 hour delay out of WLG on my way to Chicago where ground staff refused to move any of the 28 or so intl connecting pax onto other flights that meant lots of people ended up missing international flights.
The letter Luxon sent to staff in February about the OTP was a little uncalled for though - if it took him until February to realise what a disaster their OTP was you really have to wonder what he does all day.and why he wasn't aware of the problems,.
Out of my last 10 flight in March and April the last 8 have been on time, flight 9 was delayed, and 10 on time. Compare that to the period of late 2018 - early 2019 where I flew something like 22 flights without having two consecutive flights in a row that were on time. The final straw being a 1 3/4 hour delay out of WLG on my way to Chicago where ground staff refused to move any of the 28 or so intl connecting pax onto other flights that meant lots of people ended up missing international flights.
The letter Luxon sent to staff in February about the OTP was a little uncalled for though - if it took him until February to realise what a disaster their OTP was you really have to wonder what he does all day.and why he wasn't aware of the problems,.
Last edited by sbiddle; May 4, 2019 at 6:31 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,633
My view is the exact opposite. OTP was a complete and utter cluster*uck but as of the last few months it's been vastly improved (and stats show that).
Out of last last 10 flight in March and April 8 the last 8 have been on time, flight 9 was delayed, and 10 on time. Compare that to the period of late 2018 - early 2019 where I flew something like 22 flights without having two consecutive flights in a row that were on time. The final straw being a 1 3/4 hour delay out of WLG on my way to Chicago where ground staff refused to move any of the 28 or so intl connecting pax onto other flights that meant lots of people ended up missing international flights.
The letter Luxon sent to staff in February about the OTP was a little uncalled for though - if it took him until February to realise what a disaster their OTP was you really have to wonder what he does all day.and why he wasn't aware of the problems,.
Out of last last 10 flight in March and April 8 the last 8 have been on time, flight 9 was delayed, and 10 on time. Compare that to the period of late 2018 - early 2019 where I flew something like 22 flights without having two consecutive flights in a row that were on time. The final straw being a 1 3/4 hour delay out of WLG on my way to Chicago where ground staff refused to move any of the 28 or so intl connecting pax onto other flights that meant lots of people ended up missing international flights.
The letter Luxon sent to staff in February about the OTP was a little uncalled for though - if it took him until February to realise what a disaster their OTP was you really have to wonder what he does all day.and why he wasn't aware of the problems,.
Not sure if they still do it but a while back at least, part of Head Office Staff's induction was a tour of the maintenance hangers and a talk of safety from the engineers as you can't mess up safety or CAA paperwork, as doesn't matter what else you do as without those foundations you don't have an airline.
#5
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wellington, NZ
Programs: NZ *Gold
Posts: 1,371
#6
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: SQ TPPS (21),QF G, NZ E, IHG D Amb, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, Shangri-La Jade, Accor Plat, Hertz P
Posts: 395
Does he ever leave his office? I really like that Fyfe did one day a month on checkin, gate or baggage handling. Actually get to the operational of the airline first hand.
Not sure if they still do it but a while back at least, part of Head Office Staff's induction was a tour of the maintenance hangers and a talk of safety from the engineers as you can't mess up safety or CAA paperwork, as doesn't matter what else you do as without those foundations you don't have an airline.
Not sure if they still do it but a while back at least, part of Head Office Staff's induction was a tour of the maintenance hangers and a talk of safety from the engineers as you can't mess up safety or CAA paperwork, as doesn't matter what else you do as without those foundations you don't have an airline.
#7
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,633
Getting out of the office and interacting/talking with the actual staff allows you to see and hear what is actually happening in the business opposed to filtered/curated reports etc they may received.
#8
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: SQ TPPS (21),QF G, NZ E, IHG D Amb, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, Shangri-La Jade, Accor Plat, Hertz P
Posts: 395
Well a lot of managers surround themselves with "yes"/"good news" people and you often see a C_O bring a staff with them, when they change businesses. I see this a bit with the reports that I write for work, where the customer may come back and ask us to make it more "positive" and given our independence and brand we have to say no to them.
Getting out of the office and interacting/talking with the actual staff allows you to see and hear what is actually happening in the business opposed to filtered/curated reports etc they may received.
Getting out of the office and interacting/talking with the actual staff allows you to see and hear what is actually happening in the business opposed to filtered/curated reports etc they may received.
#9
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite; QF Platinum; CZ Gold; MU Platinum; Marriott Titanium; Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,467
Sitting here in CHC facing a 40 minute delay to WEL on an ATR with zero reason given so far, what frustrates me so often with ANZ delays is the lack of communication as to why there is a delay.
Is it unreasonable to expect that they give a decent reason for why these flights are delayed?
Onboard the pilots are usually pretty good, explaining why the flight was delayed, but rarely do they announce this is in airport or lounges. Seems to me that good communication would help alleviate some passenger frustration?
Is it unreasonable to expect that they give a decent reason for why these flights are delayed?
Onboard the pilots are usually pretty good, explaining why the flight was delayed, but rarely do they announce this is in airport or lounges. Seems to me that good communication would help alleviate some passenger frustration?
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: NZ Koru
Posts: 6,411
Sitting here in CHC facing a 40 minute delay to WEL on an ATR with zero reason given so far, what frustrates me so often with ANZ delays is the lack of communication as to why there is a delay.
Is it unreasonable to expect that they give a decent reason for why these flights are delayed?
Onboard the pilots are usually pretty good, explaining why the flight was delayed, but rarely do they announce this is in airport or lounges. Seems to me that good communication would help alleviate some passenger frustration?
Is it unreasonable to expect that they give a decent reason for why these flights are delayed?
Onboard the pilots are usually pretty good, explaining why the flight was delayed, but rarely do they announce this is in airport or lounges. Seems to me that good communication would help alleviate some passenger frustration?
#11
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NZ
Programs: NZ*E, QF-G, EK-P
Posts: 601
Especially as when you push them to define if it is a rolling delay or a clearly defined time they can pretty much always tell either themselves or by a phone call exactly what is happening.
My pet hate is when I can tell off the app that the arriving aircraft is arriving after the schedules departure time for the next flight - but they don't tell you until after the boarding time for that second flight or when you ask tell you with a straight face it is on time. I appreciate that they occasionally swap in aircraft but the lack of information without having to dig for it infuriates me. I know everyone has reasons to get somewhere, but my wife and i frequently juggle childcare and its not a drama if Im late - the drama comes when I cannot communicate what is going on and the evolving new times.
My pet hate is when I can tell off the app that the arriving aircraft is arriving after the schedules departure time for the next flight - but they don't tell you until after the boarding time for that second flight or when you ask tell you with a straight face it is on time. I appreciate that they occasionally swap in aircraft but the lack of information without having to dig for it infuriates me. I know everyone has reasons to get somewhere, but my wife and i frequently juggle childcare and its not a drama if Im late - the drama comes when I cannot communicate what is going on and the evolving new times.
#12
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite; QF Platinum; CZ Gold; MU Platinum; Marriott Titanium; Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,467
Especially as when you push them to define if it is a rolling delay or a clearly defined time they can pretty much always tell either themselves or by a phone call exactly what is happening.
My pet hate is when I can tell off the app that the arriving aircraft is arriving after the schedules departure time for the next flight - but they don't tell you until after the boarding time for that second flight or when you ask tell you with a straight face it is on time. I appreciate that they occasionally swap in aircraft but the lack of information without having to dig for it infuriates me. I know everyone has reasons to get somewhere, but my wife and i frequently juggle childcare and its not a drama if Im late - the drama comes when I cannot communicate what is going on and the evolving new times.
My pet hate is when I can tell off the app that the arriving aircraft is arriving after the schedules departure time for the next flight - but they don't tell you until after the boarding time for that second flight or when you ask tell you with a straight face it is on time. I appreciate that they occasionally swap in aircraft but the lack of information without having to dig for it infuriates me. I know everyone has reasons to get somewhere, but my wife and i frequently juggle childcare and its not a drama if Im late - the drama comes when I cannot communicate what is going on and the evolving new times.
So its not like the info is not right at hand for them, its just poor communication or lack of willingness to communicate. Back to my other posts one of the reasons for me to choose NZ over JQ on routes where they both fly is frequency of NZ and hopefully better IRROPS handling!
#13
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: Air Points; NZ*E; Accor Platinum; QF Gold
Posts: 17
Domestic to international connections have completely changed since marrying to international fair class. Premium check in staff can't do a reservations override and put you on an earlier flight, have always gone to the airport earlier and got on an earlier flight for the past 9 years.
Recently had a bad experience with Wellington connecting Flight to Perth due to flight being delayed 1 hour. Premium Check in staff refused to put me on an earlier flight as it wasn't in H or Y class. Expert Flyer showed Y7 so flight wasn't full. I feel there are being changes made at Air NZ for the worse. No updates at gate or on flight until someone asked the crew and they got the captain to find out.
Have also had a Premium Economy flight to the US ticketed via Airnz, with V class as the connecting domestic sector. Where has the good old fashioned customer service gone?
Recently had a bad experience with Wellington connecting Flight to Perth due to flight being delayed 1 hour. Premium Check in staff refused to put me on an earlier flight as it wasn't in H or Y class. Expert Flyer showed Y7 so flight wasn't full. I feel there are being changes made at Air NZ for the worse. No updates at gate or on flight until someone asked the crew and they got the captain to find out.
Have also had a Premium Economy flight to the US ticketed via Airnz, with V class as the connecting domestic sector. Where has the good old fashioned customer service gone?
#14
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,095
I've had no issues changing domestic connections on the day at the airport since married fares have come into play - all at WLG). I would have done this at least 5 it 6 times over the past year both outbound and inbound with the last time being in Feb.
Spoke to ground staff after married fares were introduced and they said it would make zero difference to changes It has however resulted in massive changes to connections and the flights that are available - mostly in a negative way.
Spoke to ground staff after married fares were introduced and they said it would make zero difference to changes It has however resulted in massive changes to connections and the flights that are available - mostly in a negative way.
#15
Join Date: Apr 2018
Programs: Air Points; NZ*E; Accor Platinum; QF Gold
Posts: 17
Very interesting Sibble, lately at WLG i've found it hit and miss with premium check in staff. Last declined request to move flights was over Easter. Lounge staff are pretty good, but have bags to check in etc.