Travelling on a recent QantasLink Australian domestic flight, I browsed through the excellent QantasLink in-flight magazine Spirit. I noticed an announcement by John Gissing, the CEO of Qantaslink:
"QantasLink was recently confirmed as the airline for regulated air service routes by the Queensland government. It's a decision welcomedby the airline and the communities we continue to serve, including Roma, Charleville, Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall. Qantas began in the heartland of Outback Queensland, and we are delighted to maintain our long association with these key outback communities".
What a stark contrast compared to the miserable, money-grabbing attitude displayed by the management of Air New Zealand in its abandonment of those New Zealand routes, including Auckland to Kaitaia, which it does not consider to be sufficiently profitable.
Kerikeri has not escaped Air New Zealand's profit ambitions either. I suppose it could have been expected that ANZ's announcement of larger aircraft on the Auckland to Kerikeri route would be accompanied, but unsaid, by a reduction in frequency of daily services. That is exactly what has happened. Kerikeri will have fewer services co-incident with Air New Zealand's abandonment of Kaitaia. This is not exactly helpful to those Kaitaia based travellers who are now faced with taking flights from Kerikeri.
The profit motive wins, community service is the loser. Isn't it time that the New Zealand government ordered Air New Zealand to properly service our smaller communities, or alternatively, require that the New Zealand network of airline services be subject to exclusive bidding by alternative operators, including Air New Zealand, who will be required to service our smaller communities?
