Air NZ dumps taxi firm

Photo / Herald on Sunday

Air New Zealand has dumped the taxi firm that transports thousands of cabin crew to and from Auckland Airport.

Alert Taxis lost their $2.5 million contract after they were underbid by rival firm Koru Cabs.

Alert Taxi director Paul Cafferkey said the move came after a "restructuring" at the carrier.

He said: "Obviously it was price driven. They didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket.

"C'est la vie. We don't have any sour grapes."

Since the November 1 handover, an industry insider said there had been grumblings by cabin crew about the poor service by Koru.

But a Koru employee, who refused to be named, said that the initial problems picking up Air New Zealand staff been ironed out.

"This company has taken 20 days to bed it down to an area where we are happy with where it is going."

Air New Zealand did not respond to phone calls.