Editorial: Air NZ get little sympathy from me

"Air New Zealand has a virtual monopoly, a violent mood-swinging price structure, and a back story about loss-making flights over the past two years."

If Air New Zealand wants greater empathy towards the predicament that has led to service cuts this week, it should examine its imbalanced pricing structure. Because it is a joke with an unfunny punchline.

I purchased a flight from Auckland to Palmerston North this past week.

It cost me $100 - quite reasonable I thought. Not the Grab-A-Seat bargain I was after, but reasonable.

My son's cricket team is playing in a national finals tournament. I'm travelling down at my own expense to support his school. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I did not book the return flight immediately, because my son's team's flight details had not been confirmed, and I was hoping to travel home on the same flight.

Once I had all the information I needed, I booked the return flight.

I had no option other than to pay the $250 one-way cost of a trip from Palmerston North to Auckland.

There were no alternative flights that I was aware of, no competition.

When I had first looked at flights leaving Palmerston North, I am sure it did not cost $250.

But when demand for the flight rose, so too, it seems, did the cost of getting on it.

I could have taken an earlier, cheaper flight, but would have then sat in Auckland waiting for my son, as he is travelling back to Whangarei from Auckland via car with me.

How is it that I can fly to Australia and back cheaper than I can visit Palmerston North? Air New Zealand has a virtual monopoly, a violent mood-swinging price structure, and a back story about loss-making flights over the past two years.

And my $350. But not my sympathy.