Air N.Z. in a mess -M.P.

Press, 25 September 1980, Page 18

Air N.Z. in a mess -M.P.

NZPA Wellington Air New Zealand was in a mess from the point of view of both its finance and its staff morale, Mr R. O. Douglas (Lab.,. Manurewa) has told Parliament

Anyone who had travelled on the airline in the last few years could not help but notice the decline in service and standards, he said, during a debate on the Transport Estimates. Mr Douglas suggested that this was because of a morale problem which had resulted from a poor managerial structure and “blatant Government interference." The airline lost $l5 million last year and this year it was expected to lose at least $2l million when faced with a capital expenditure programme of $135 million, Mr Douglas said. “These facts, with blatant Government interference, have led to a disastrous morale problem for Air New Zealand,” he said. But the Minister of Civil Aviation (Mr McLachlan) quoted a survey carried out earlier in the year in which he said seasoned travellers had voted Air New Zealand “tops” among nine other international airlines. Mr McLachlan said the survey “blew out” Mr Douglas’s argument.