Air Chathams welcomes border announcement and prepares for next phase

Air Chathams is currently using a 'bus stop' schedule. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Government's border announcement on Thursday was good news for Air Chathams, and chief operating officer Duane Emeny hopes to see bookings start coming in.

"The announcement definitely made me feel better, because now we've got a bit of certainty around dates," Emeny said.

"It's a bit too early to see anything substantial. Things are still very quiet in the red light setting, which is really just the domestic market.

"I think people need to familiarise themselves with the information, in terms of the steps and what it means for them."

People who flew into the country from Australia from the end of February would have the option to fly to smaller centres such as Whanganui to self-isolate, Emeny said.

"Hopefully we would be in the box-seat as the first choice of preference there.

"In time, as people understand the system better and have that confidence, we may see some of that traffic back. It's been a very, very long time, so we're quite excited about it."

Emeny said a robust infection prevention and control document had been made for staff.

"That drills down on every department in the business, and how we can operate in a safer way.

"For flight crew, that means minimal contact with the rest of the business when they're transiting through our operational areas.

"We are flying people in bubbles and, for engineering, we are rotating different shifts and having different locations for smoko and lunch."

Duane Emeny says hygiene practices onboard remain at a very high level. Photo / Supplied

Phase one of the Ministry of Health's Omicron response was a period of higher risk for the business, because any close contact had to self-isolate for 10 days, Emeny said.

"That would obviously hammer our business continuity and that's why we've implemented some changes."

The 'bus stop schedule' is one such update.

"It's not the most glamorous name, but it's actually the old-school way of flying around New Zealand.

"For us, we are going out of Auckland, flying into Whanganui, then onwards to the Kāpiti Coast. It's effectively a straight line, with minimal disruption to those passengers.

"It also allows us to cut our crew requirements in half, so we've got those additional crew sitting on standby in the event that we have a positive case in our ranks who is required to self isolate."

Emeny said he thought Air Chathams would be categorised as a critical workforce under phase two of the Omicron response.

"Obviously anyone in the business who does test positive will be going home and self isolating, but there is a 'test to return to work' option.

"The government will be supplying RATs [rapid antigen tests] to businesses like ours, so anyone around the person who tested positive can self test."

Provided it was a negative test, workers would be able to return to work whilst monitoring symptoms.

Hygiene practices onboard remained at a very high level, Emeny said.

"All our passengers are wearing masks as they are required to, and we've suspended in-flight services under the red light setting to minimise that interaction.

"We are still checking those vaccine passes and/or requiring that negative PCR or rapid antigen test within 72 hours."

Emeny said the cost of fuel had risen dramatically in recent months.

"The percentage increase you are seeing at your pumps for vehicles is the same on an aviation level.

"I'm really hoping some of those additional reserve barrels of oil can be released so the heat can be taken out. It's certainly hurting."

Taking on higher operating costs while dealing with the pandemic would be a challenge for businesses in many sectors this year, Emeny said.

"We're excited to have some dates to work to, and then slowly but surely build things back.

"We know what we can do, because we still have all our 2019 figures. You have to cast your mind back to that every now and then, just to remember what life was like."