Christchurch tetraplegic Alan Pullar will have to pay thousands of dollar for an in-flight carer if he wants to see his daughter graduate from a United States university.
Mr Pullar, 62, and his wife, Barbara, are flying to the US next month to see daughter Jess graduate fromBoston College.
But Air New Zealand refuses to let staff help him into his seat, so they will have to pay for a carer to travel with them, The Press reported.
Mr Pullar, who broke his neck in a rugby scrum when he was 20, had flown with Singapore Airlines and some European airlines without incident.
Airline staff or airport firefighters were arranged to lift him into his seat as his wheelchair was too wide for plane aisles. He did not need toilet facilities or extra help once in his seat.
But Air New Zealand and Qantas did not provide such a service.
"It's a simple thing, but it's an issue and it's an expensive issue," Mr Pullar told the newspaper.
"I just want this for others. I can afford to take a carer but a lot of people can't and for two weeks it's a lot of money."
Air New Zealand communications executive Andrea Dale said the policy "intended to minimise the risk of injury to staff and customers through manual lifting".
"For customers travelling internationally, a support person is required to accompany someone unable to self-transfer to or from their seat and who requires a manual lift," she told the newspaper.
"This support person is required in recognition of the longer flight time and the additional personal support likely to be required throughout the flight for both personal needs and also any potential aircraft emergency that would require evacuation."
