Warning for those going on Air New Zealand to/from cruise

From TV New Zealand:

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvone_minisite_story_skin/430057%3fformat=html

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Reporter: Eleisha McNeill

Air New Zealand's latest catch-phrase is "being there is everything" - which is fine if you can get there. But a recent policy change has made flying harder for the disabled community.

Donna-Rose McKay has severe rheumatoid arthritis and has been in a wheelchair most of her life. She flies all over the country with her job, but now Air New Zealand has changed their wheelchair policy for people who can't self-lift out of their own wheelchairs and into their plane seat.

Air New Zealand's staff used to be allowed to assist people on and off the plane seats, but now wheelchair users have to have a support person with them to lift them out of their wheelchair, into an aisle chair (which fits down plane aisles), and onto their plane seat. Someone has to meet them at their destination to lift them out of their plane seat, into the aisle chair and then out of the aisle chair into their wheelchair. If you're travelling from Dunedin to Auckland, for example, you usually have to change planes - which means arranging support people in three different places to do the lifting Air New Zealand staff used to do.

Donna's colleague Richard Thomson is chairman of the Otago District Health Board. Air New Zealand told him they made the change because of health and safety legislation. Richard says if he were to tell patients in his hospital they needed to bring a support person with them to do the lifting, he'd be quickly fired. He says the hospital operates under the same health and safety legislation as Air New Zealand, and he believes it means they have to ensure they effectively train their staff to do the job that they're required to do.

He points out that if this is the way Air New Zealand views the policy, maybe passengers should have to put their bags on the plane because the baggage handlers could be injured.

Disability Minister Ruth Dyson has also got into the debate. She says Air New Zealand's putting barriers in the way of disabled people at the very time when barriers are being broken down.

The ultimate irony - Air New Zealand's one of the major sponsors of the New Zealand Paralympics Team.

Air New Zealand wouldn't appear on camera, but they tell us they consulted with disability groups over this policy change. Fair Go has spoken to a number of the groups Air New Zealand "consulted" with, and they say it wasn't a consultation process - there was one meeting and then they were pretty much told that was the way it was going to be.

Air New Zealand wouldn't tell us how many of their staff have been injured lifting wheelchair users in and out of their seats, but they say their overall workplace injury rates are higher than "acceptable industry standards". They say they don't train their staff to provide "specialist lifting assistance".

The same health and safety policy applies to baggage handlers. Air New Zealand says bags over 25kg are tagged as heavy, and any over 32 kgs have to be repacked to make them lighter. Their staff aren't allowed to lift anything they believe may cause them an injury.

Qantas policy is quite different to Air New Zealand's. Their ground based staff help wheelchair users onto the plane, and the cabin crew then help them into their seats. Their staff are specially trained to lift wheelchair users. Interesting that Qantas say none of their staff have been injured lifting wheelchair users in and out of their seats.

If you want to write to Air New Zealand with your views on their wheelchair policy, send your letter to:

Customer Relations

Air New Zealand Limited

Private Bag 92007

Auckland 1

New Zealand.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

*********

This is too bad, as we have flown them before and they provided great service (and bumped us up to first class). I guess we will cross them off our list of carriers to use in the future. I would encourage everyone else to inundate them with letters and e-mail about this. You can contact Customer Service throught their website:

http://www.airnz.co.nz/

I don't think they will be able to keep this policy in place for flights to the USA though, as the Access to the Air regulations require that they provide this service at US airports. At many airports the service is provided (by contract) by the airport itself.

HA Constitution 1986

NCL Skyward 1988

Crystal Harmony 1992

Dawn Princess 1994

HA Independence 1995

Celebrity Zenith 1997

Grand Princess 1999

Regal Princess 2000

Crystal Harmony 2000

HAL Ryndam 2001

HAL Statendam 2003

RCI Vision of the Seas 2003

HAL Ryndam 2004