Air New Zealand passengers bet both ways

Ticket buyers are covering their options as the national carrier battles for survival, writes SCOTT MacLEOD.

Air New Zealand passengers are starting to book on rival airlines as they wait for news about the national carrier's money woes.

An insider at a major travel chain said yesterday that passengers were continuing to book tickets on Air NZ - but were booking with Qantas and other airlines for the same trip.

The idea seemed to be that travellers would hold their tickets until the deadline for cancelling. They would then choose an airline and cancel tickets for the others.

The deadline for many tickets would be late this week.

Most travel firms say it is too early to spot major booking trends.

Harvey World Travel general manager Rob Earles said there was a tendency for people travelling to Europe to choose stopovers in Asia rather than North America.

First Travel Group chairman Tim Tapper said some people might be wary of buying tickets on Air NZ, but others had shown support by abandoning other airlines for the national carrier.

First Travel yesterday placed a full-page advertisement in the Herald addressed to Air NZ staff offering "wholehearted support".

Mr Tapper said Air NZ was a critical part of the travel industry.

"They've done a hell of a good job and we can't afford for them to go," he said. "It's a bloody good airline and we feel sorry for them. If we can ginger up some support for them, we will."

A spokeswoman for Air NZ said bookings information was commercially sensitive.

Air NZ has been plunged into turmoil since its Australian subsidiary Ansett went bust on September 14 and the airline group posted the biggest loss in New Zealand corporate history. Rumours persist that Air NZ may be put into statutory management.

Comments from Air NZ mechanics, flight crew, call centre and other staff suggest that morale is still low, but improving.

Staff at Air NZ's call centre in Queen St, Auckland, were feeling pretty low yesterday despite attempts by management to jolly them up with pizza and other treats.

Last week, they were inundated with angry phone calls from travellers who were stranded by the grounding of Ansett planes.

They also received e-mails describing them as "worse than terrorists".

One employee said yesterday that many people, especially Australians, had abused telephonists. "They think Air New Zealand ruined their company, Ansett, so they are anti-New Zealanders."

The stream of abusive calls was drying up, but staff were still anxious about their jobs.

Call centre staff last week signed a card of support for the airline's chief executive, Gary Toomey.

A ground-crew worker said he and his buddies were taking each day at a time.

The first week of the crisis had been difficult for everyone, but now people were getting on with their jobs.

A member of the airline's management team said he and others were also "just getting on with it".

Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said one of the worst things for Air NZ staff was dealing with uncertainty.

"I don't think the prospect of six weeks of due diligence fills them with confidence at all."