Pilot's chat gets tweaked

A pilot who offended the Prime Minister by making comments "in jest" to a planeload of passengers over the intercom spent yesterday being "counselled" by his manager.

The Air New Zealand pilot, whose identity has been kept secret by the company, announced his plane had been delayed because Helen Clark had decided to take a private jet and her luggage had to be removed.

"So much for supporting the national airline, eh?" he said.

Captain David Morgan, chief pilot and general manager of operations, standards and safety, said the pilot would receive "training in communications awareness and delivery skills enhancement" during a two-day stand-down.

"This refresher education will be delivered by an experienced trainer, who provides regular customer-focused communication courses across many parts of the business where our staff interact with customers."

The pilot had also been counselled by his manager and was "acutely aware" of the company's expectations with regard to communicating with customers in future.