Women say they were removed from Air NZ flight due to their size

Two women have been left traumatised after they say were offloaded from an Air New Zealand flight because of their size.

Angel Harding has complained about treatment from a flight attendant after boarding for the flight from Napier to Auckland last Friday.

The plane turned back during taxiing and all the passengers were taken off. Harding said she and her friend were subsequently not allowed to reboard and they were told that in future they should book two seats each.

Harding said she was looking out of the window as the plane was taxiing when she felt a sudden pain in her left arm. She said she turned to see the flight attendant forcing the arm rest into her arm.

“I was kind of was in shock,” she said, “and I moved forward, and she started yelling to me that the pilot can’t take off unless all the arm rests were down, and she was quite aggressive to me. She was speaking to me in an aggressive manner. I just couldn’t believe what was happening to me.”

Harding said it wasn’t until she asked her to stop, with her left palm held up, that the flight attendant stopped.

Her friend sitting next to her then addressed the attendant as the plane continued to move on the tarmac.

“She said, ‘don’t you think you should be seated if the plane is in motion?’ And then [the flight attendant] looked at both of us and said, ‘I can get you both kicked off this flight’,” Harding claimed.

She said the flight attendant returned to the front of the plane and spoke into a phone. They then noticed the plane turning around before the flight attendant made an announcement that passengers would all need to exit the plane due to an “inconvenience”.

“After she hung up the phone, she came over and said, ‘you two should have booked four seats, you two should have bought two seats each’,” said Harding.

She said they were told that they would have to purchase two seats when they book a flight with Air New Zealand in the future.

Harding said they didn’t have an issue on their flights down to Hawke’s Bay. They were returning home to Northland from a hui in Hastings having flown from Kerikeri to Auckland, and then Auckland to Napier “without a problem”.

The two women, who were assisted with wheelchairs due to medical conditions, disembarked with the rest of the passengers but were moved to the side and left with another Air New Zealand worker.

Kathleen Tuhiwai Wharemate, who was travelling with the pair but was seated separately on the flight, was also wheelchair assisted off the plane and wasn’t aware there was an issue until she saw them during the disembarkation.

She said she was devastated when the three women learnt that Angel and her friend were “the inconvenience” and were not going to rejoin the flight.

“As I was pushed [back] out to the plane, I looked back and saw them both crying, and I was crying, and it was just so sad leaving them behind.”

Harding said they were not given an explanation as to why they were removed from the flight.

Instead, they were told they would need to rebook, but that due to high demand the next available flight that could accommodate the two of them travelling together was on Sunday.

When Harding told the staff member they were not in a financial position to purchase two tickets each and had no whānau in the area, she said the airline offered accommodation and meals for the two, as well as their flights back on Sunday. They were also given complimentary access to the Koru Lounge while details were being sorted out.

However, as they were coming to terms with their situation, they were told there were available seats on a flight later that day and were able to return home that night.

In a statement, an Air New Zealand spokesperson said if there is space available, and a customer requires extra room, their staff will work to reaccommodate them on the aircraft, but they "strongly recommend" that customers get in touch with the airline before their flight "to ensure a safe and comfortable journey".

"We are committed to treating all customers with respect and dignity and we apologise that these customers received an inconsistent experience. We will continue to work with the customer directly to address their concerns."

Airline commentator Irene King said safety is a paramount concern for every airline so that drives their policies but it comes down the discretion of the individual airline.

Some airlines globally will encourage some larger passengers to pay for an extra seat. “In New Zealand, we don't have any prescriptive legislation of that nature so it’s very much at the discretion of the airline,” she said.

Harding claims they were discriminated against.

“My thoughts are they took me off because of my build, because of my size. As to myself and our build, our size had a lot to do with it. They didn’t say it [was], they said it was an inconvenience.”

Harding said she wanted to speak out against how they were treated to say that that kind of behaviour “is not OK”.

“We’re all humans, we’re all human, and I don’t ever want anyone to go through the trauma that we are going through right now.

She and her friend are now seeking compensation for hurt, humiliation and trauma.