An Air NZ flight taking off. Photo / NZME
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran says the airline is losing bags at roughly twice the rate it was before Covid.
Foran said since about August, about four out of every 1000 bags carried by the airline had been reported missing upon arrival, compared to about two out of every 1000 prior to Covid.
“It’s not where we want to be, but I know that some other airlines and some other operators are about double that,” he said.
“But we are working hard to get that down.”
Foran, who visited his childhood home of Hastings on Tuesday, told the Hawke’s Bay Today in an interview that passenger numbers had bounced back to levels similar to those seen in 2019.
“During Covid you are not doing much flying, so you don’t lose too much,” he said of the bags.
“Now everyone is running really hard and the volumes are up - so it has been the past four or five months [where we’ve seen that ratio of lost baggage increase].”
Foran said a lot of factors went into airlines running smoothly and getting passengers and baggage where they need to go.
He said that included working with a wide range of other companies, such as third-party operators who handle baggage at some airports, like Sydney.
Air New Zealand’s not the only company to have occasional struggles with this - last week, two baggage handlers subcontracted by Qantas were officially sacked after viral footage emerged of the duo slamming luggage into a carousel.
The video, shot in secret at Melbourne Airport, prompted an “urgent investigation” conducted by contracting company Swissport, used by Qantas.
Foran said Air New Zealand was looking to fill about 400 roles per month at the moment to meet high demand for flights, across a range of roles.
“We are pretty much back to where we need to be in Hawke’s Bay [for staffing levels], so most of that is focused in Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Christchurch.”
He said there were no plans to introduce any new direct flight connections for Hawke’s Bay at this stage, but that could be looked at next year.
“At this stage, we are just flat-out getting all our services back up and running, because effectively the airline, by and large, was either stopped for two years, or paused or restarting.
“So, we have now got to get into a good operating rhythm.”
He said it was one of the busiest times of the year for the airline from now up until the New Year.
Return to Hastings
Foran grew up in Hastings and said he enjoyed returning to his old stomping ground on Tuesday.
His father was formerly the principal of Twyford School, and his mother was also a teacher in the region.
Foran, who moved to Hamilton about the age of 12 with his family, said he was impressed by “the quality and cleanliness and friendliness” of Hastings during his visit, which “was almost second-to-none”.
Foran spoke to a large gathering of business leaders at Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre, toured Hastings with Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, and met with the Air NZ crew in Napier. He even had time for an icecream at Rush Munro’s.
Foran has been in charge of Air NZ since early 2020 when he took over the top job from then-CEO and current National Party Leader Christopher Luxon.