Facebook campaign lands cheap flights

A Tauranga teacher has won a battle for the little people by getting Air New Zealand to "give teachers a break".
After noting flight packages always excluded the school holidays, Tauranga Intermediate School technology teacher Ian Henderson decided to go to the top and campaign on behalf of the country's teachers.
He emailed Air New Zealand chief executive officer Rob Fyfe and asked whether the airline could do some special deals for teachers as they always "missed out."
"All teachers look to get a break in one of the two winter holidays, but it's pointless really when you have to pay full price," he said.
Mr Fyfe agreed to look into it, and while he did, Mr Henderson set up a Facebook page to drum up support, called Cut Teachers some Slack Air New Zealand - Please?? The page has been up and running for almost a fortnight, and has 119 members.
On Friday, an Air New Zealand representative turned up at Tauranga Intermediate's teacher only day with holiday packages for all New Zealand teachers and support staff for the October school holidays.
The deals are for the Pacific Islands and Australia, and can be viewed on Mr Henderson's Facebook page.
One example is flights to Vanuatu and seven nights' accommodation for $979.
"Mr Fyfe said [teacher deals] had been trialled before in Christchurch and received substantial support," Mr Henderson said. "This time, it's being extended to include all school staff, not just teachers."
Since Air New Zealand agreed to sign off on deals for the October holidays, Mr Henderson has been "messaged to death" on Facebook with teachers thanking him.
One person wrote: "This shows the power of the collective voice. Hopefully, Air NZ can extend these packages to beyond the Pacific. Not that I'm complaining."
A representative from the Grabaseat team wrote: "Good on you for putting the call out for some deals ... if you try and get 1000 members we'll see what we can grab for you."
Mr Henderson is aware some people may have little sympathy for teachers, who already have it good enough with holidays.
"But if you're a teacher and locked into this environment, it's tough," Mr Henderson said.
"Taking leave early enough to meet the date criteria is never an option as the loss of pay is more than the saving. Teachers are the only profession who never ever get to take holidays at anything but high season prices. All we want is access to those discounted prices."
Mr Henderson said he was floored by the response.
The Bay of Plenty Times was unable to contact Mr Fyfe yesterday but, in an email to Mr Henderson, he said Air New Zealand had a "very positive reaction from many schools".
"We appreciate the constructive way you engaged with the team and to prompt us to have another look at opportunities for our teachers," he wrote.