Bollocks! says Air NZ to Virgin criticism

Air NZ chief executive Rob Fyfe expressing his opinion of The Listener's editorial.

A magazine editor has said she is unwilling to engage in a "slanging match" with Air New Zealand over its unusual approach to refuting claims that its transtasman alliance plan with rival Virgin Blue will mean its services will be downgraded.

Responding to critical editorial in The Listener magazine, the airline this morning took out a full-page advertisement in The New Zealand Herald newspaper using only sign language pictures, accompanied by a pointer to a website where a woman stands alongside chief executive Rob Fyfe and uses sign language to rebut The Listener's claims.

The Listener editorial says the airline's "downmarket shift clearly has more to do with optimising profits and preparing for the possibility of the alliance than it is has to do with customer wishes".

One News reported this evening that Pamela Stirling, editor of The Listener, said she "won't enter a slanging match" over the issue.

Advertising executive Dave Walden liked the campaign.

"Air New Zealand have been really clever," said Walden, the CEO of TBWA/Whybin.

Regardless of whether the alliance went ahead, the editorial said New Zealanders would have to come to terms "with a depressing inevitability: the 'quality' airline we have been so proud of is going determinedly downmarket on its Australian and Pacific routes."

In the online response to the editorial, a woman relays Fyfe's message via sign language:

"Dear Listener. Ironically it seems you haven't been listening to us. We've got to say, you are hardly being true to your name.

If you had bothered to give Rob a call, you would have heard loud and clear about our continued dedication to being the world's best airline.

As you appear to have turned a deaf ear to us, we thought it best to respond in a language you may be more familiar with.

You reckon it's 'inevitable' Air New Zealand will downgrade its services if our proposed trans-Tasman alliance with Virgin gets approved.

Bollocks!"

Virgin would, said Fyfe, be upgrading its services, rather than Air NZ downgrading.

THE PLAN

Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue alliance:

* Code share arrangement to cover the Tasman, plus domestic travel in Australia and New Zealand as part of a connecting journey.
* Revenue generated across the Tasman allocated between the two carriers.
* Frequent flyer co-operation and reciprocal loyalty benefits.
* Access to lounges for qualifying passengers of either airline.
* Previous attempts to form such an alliance have been rejected by regulators, since the alliance would dominate too much of the market.
This plan is seen as having a greater chance of success, since Air NZ and Virgin together would face a big rival in Qantas.

- NZHERALD STAFF