Air New Zealand apologises to plus-size passenger, deplaned over weight

The passenger was told she could not fly on the ATR Air NZ aircraft from Hawke's Bay Airport due to her not being able to lower the armrests. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

An Air New Zealand passenger from Kerikeri has received an apology from the airline after being told she was too big to fly.

Ngāpuhi woman Angel Harding told 1 News’ Te Karere that she believes she was disembarked from the aircraft because of her size.

Harding and a friend who had been travelling home from Napier on March 8 were humiliated after the ATR plane was taxied back to the airport after a cabin crew member deemed it was not safe to fly.

She claims a flight attendant forcibly tried to lower her armrests on the ATR regional plane service, causing her physical pain, before saying she would have to disembark.

Further insult was allegedly added when the cabin crew member made a PA announcement that the reason for the return to the gate was an “inconvenience”.

Harding was told the pilot was not permitted to take off with the armrests raised and in future she would have to pay for two seats to fly.

This was despite having taken two planes, via Auckland, for the outbound journey.

“My thoughts are they took me off because of my build, because of my size. As to myself and our build, our size had a lot to do with it,” Harding told 1 News.

“They didn’t say it … they said it was an ‘inconvenience’.”

Due to high demand over the weekend, Harding and her travel partner were unable to find flights back until that Sunday.

Air New Zealand has since issued an apology to the passengers.

In a statement to the Herald, Air New Zealand said when space is available, their staff will work to re-accommodate passengers requiring extra room on an aircraft, but they would “strongly recommend” customers contact the airline before travel, to ”ensure a safe and comfortable journey”.

The carrier’s general manager for customer care, Alisha Armstrong said that the passengers’ experience was not consistent with Air New Zealand’s expectations.

“We are committed to treating all customers with respect and dignity and we apologise that these customers received an inconsistent experience. We will continue to work with the customer directly to address their concerns.”

The airline reportedly offered accommodation and meals to cover the delay and that the airline paid for their seats on Sunday, when Harding and her friend said they were not in a position to justify paying for two seats each on the flights back.

However the travellers said it did not cover the hurt and humiliation they suffered during the ordeal, telling 1 News they would be seeking additional compensation.

When are passengers required to book an extra seat?

The CAA states that the adult mean passenger weight with carry-on baggage should be 85kg.

However, in New Zealand there is no requirement that airlines should have a policy for carrying “passengers of size” or a minimum seat size.

Passenger size is only addressed in terms of passenger safety.

In the United States, where such policies are more common, it is the airline that sets the conditions for passengers who require an extra seat.

United Airlines, for example, will offer rebooking to flights that can accommodate an extra seat, for passengers requiring more space. Southwest Airlines’ “customer of size” policy says plus-size passengers are entitled to a complimentary additional seat, where possible.

Last year, the US FAA received a petition to standardise plus-size passenger policies with almost 40,000 signatures.