Air New Zealand accused of unfair downgrade after Rarotonga flight seat swap

Kirsten Watkins was downgraded from premium to economy when her seat was given to another passenger who's seat was faulty. Photo / Airport Authority Cook Islands

A Kiwi holidaymaker says she was unfairly penalised after Air New Zealand downgraded her from Premium Economy to Economy and reassigned her seat to another passenger.

Kirsten Watkins had just finished a six-day holiday in Rarotonga with her husband and was due to fly home to Auckland on November 22 when her $1961 return seat was swapped minutes before boarding to one worth significantly less.

The change also separated the couple, who had been seated together, for the flight home.

Watkins said they had already checked in and were waiting at the gate when her husband was called to the desk.

“When I went up, I saw that he now had my boarding pass,” she said.

“When I asked them, ‘Where am I supposed to be sitting?’ they sheepishly said, ‘Well, there’s a seat that’s dysfunctional and because of that, you have been downgraded’.”

Watkins said the airline did not explain why she was downgraded while the passenger assigned the defective seat was allowed to remain in Premium Economy.

Air New Zealand general manager customer Alisha Armstrong said when a premium cabin seat could not be used, airport teams assessed factors such as fare type and booking class to determine reassignment.

“That process is designed to be consistent and fair,” Armstrong said.

However, on Watkins’ flight, “there were no available seats in Business Premier, so an upgrade was not an option”.

Watkins was moved from seat 26D to 44H and says she received a $350 koha as an apology.

Despite this, Watkins said she felt discriminated against and unfairly penalised because of an “operational decision”.

She claimed Air New Zealand failed to honour its contract.

“I received a significant downgrade despite paying the correct fare,” she wrote in a complaint email to the airline.

“No proactive service recovery or meaningful compensation was offered.”

Watkins requested a refund of $550-$600, the fare difference between Premium Economy and Economy.

She also sought additional compensation for “stress and inconvenience”, the negative impact on her holiday, and what she said was a failure to uphold the airline’s brand value of manaakitanga.

Air New Zealand said it had recognised the disruption and disappointment caused by the seat change through payments already made to Watkins.

“Whenever someone is involuntarily downgraded, they receive two forms of support under our policy: a refund of the fare difference after travel, and a separate goodwill payment at the airport to recognise the inconvenience experienced by the customer,” Armstrong said.

“Both of these have been arranged for Ms Watkins, and her complaint has since been escalated and resolved by our Customer Recovery team.

“We apologise for the delay in getting back to her.”

Watkins said she waited more than three weeks for a response to her complaint and refund request.

“As a national carrier, they have a responsibility to provide a service that is efficacious, efficient and to be resolving issues in a timely manner,” she said.

She said she was now reconsidering whether she will continue flying with Air New Zealand in future.