Air New Zealand Challenges its Competitors to Step Up

Air New Zealand today challenged domestic competitors in New Zealand to start reporting their On-Time Performance (OTP) based on a standard 10 minute window.

86% of Air New Zealand’s 15,357 flights operated by 68 aircraft departed within 10 minutes in July.

Group General Manager Short Haul Airline Bruce Parton said the 15 minute window adopted by Pacific Blue was a slap in the face to Kiwi travellers.

“If we can operate that number of flights and aircraft to a 10 minute standard, so too should our domestic competitors each operating with just three aircraft. In a country where the majority of flights are an hour or less, having a tolerance for leaving 15 minutes late is completely unacceptable," Mr Parton said.

Air New Zealand accurately collects its OTP data from onboard computers – Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which capture aircraft movements to the second, as compared to the manually written pilot logs used by some other carriers.

Air New Zealand’s domestic On-Time Performance, which has been available upon request, will be regularly reported in the monthly Operating Statistics provided to the NZX.

Mr Parton said Air New Zealand reiterated its call from last year for the Government to set the stringent 10 minute guideline for all carriers in the domestic market, so that travellers could make an accurate assessment of which airline was likely to get them to their destination on time.

"Any airline that thinks it is acceptable being up to a quarter of an hour late on short domestic flights clearly isn't serious about customer service. New Zealand as a nation cannot afford to gain a reputation in the international tourism market for tardy performance when it comes to air travel. We are calling on the Aussies to do their bit for New Zealand and our nation's brand," Mr Parton said.

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