Well it is good to see that large corporates like Air NZ do come to the party...
Dear Graham
Further to your correspondence with Rob Fyfe, and my subsequent phone message, I have now received reports from our team at the airport and I am in a better position to respond to you.
I would like to start by extending our sincere apologies for the lapse in our service standards you experienced when arriving at Auckland airport in relation to the handling of your daughter wheelchair.
Rather than make excuses, I do acknowledge that we dropped the ball in relation to the handling of Natalie’s wheelchair in Auckland. Our expectation would be for our Ramp staff to use better judgement in these situations and to ask relevant questions if in doubt, as opposed to dragging a wheelchair. As mentioned by Rob in his interim correspondence with you, we have and continue to do a lot of work in this area of our operations however clearly as your experience indicates we have a lot more work to do here.
The method that the loading staff have used on this occasion is not acceptable and the gap identified in handling a wheelchair which does or does not have the ability to have it’s wheels disengaged for free rolling needs addressing.
One of the biggest challenges we face is ensuring we consistently deliver a high standard of service and while this is what we achieve most of the time, sometimes we fail, and in those situations we directly confront and address those areas and individuals who are not performing to standard. The handling of wheelchairs whether electric powered or not needs to be done with the utmost care and the staff involved have been counselled by our Airport Management team about the incident, what occurred and how it can be potentially better managed in future.
We are currently reviewing the information that we provide customers regarding our disability processes on our website and in fact we have been reviewing our entire disability handling procedures on our network – a project that has been underway since late last year. We will also be engaging with a variety of disabled groups and individuals during this process.
While I can certainly appreciate the reason for your comments regarding our disability handling based on your recent experience, we are obviously very disappointed that you have this perception given the huge investment Air New Zealand is currently making in ensuring that the service we provide our customers with disabilities or customer who may benefit from some assistance is above expectations.
Notwithstanding the above, in recognition of this lapse in our service standards on this occasion and as a gesture of goodwill, I have arranged to have Natalie’s fare refunded. The applicable amount will be refunded back to the original form of payment. In addition, I have also arranged to have a gift sent to Natalie under separate cover – I trust she will enjoy this with our compliments.
Graham, once again please accept my apologies that we have not met your expectations on the occasions you outline and thank you again for your feedback which enables me to focus and target our efforts in those areas where we are not yet meeting our customer’s expectations.
I would be happy for you to get in touch with me directly as per my details below when Natalie’s next decides to travel and we will do everything possible to ensure that her journey will be a pleasant and enjoyable one.
Yours sincerely
Derek Pereira
Customer Support Manager
Air New Zealand Limited
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Originally Posted by James Deuce
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