Former politician’s flight fracas claims disputed
Tuesday, 9 January 2024
A disruptive Air New Zealand passenger – believed to be former MP and broadcaster Maggie Barry – was abusive and the only reason a plane was delayed, the airline says, despite claims to the contrary.
Air NZ chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan confirmed Friday’s delay was due to a “passenger [who] failed to comply with our crew member instructions and responded by being abusive towards our cabin crew and a fellow passenger”. While the airline did not name Barry, The Post confirmed she was the passenger involved.
Were you on the plane? Email news@thepost.co.nz
Barry, who denies she was abusive, characterised the run-in as a “minor misunderstanding” over her mobile phone on a strap around her neck, which she said was mistaken for a handbag.
Police earlier confirmed an officer was sent from the airport to board the plane and a discussion was had between the officer, the pilot and passenger. The flight took off without further incident with Barry on board.
Barry said the plane was only delayed 20 minutes on departure and “strong headwinds and high altitude turbulence” played a role in its late arrival in Auckland.
But data from the Queenstown to Auckland flight shows it was scheduled to leave at 12.25pm, but left 40 minutes later at 1.05pm.
Air NZ was on Monday asked about Barry’s claims of headwinds and turbulence adding to the delay.
“Flight NZ1250 was delayed by 40 minutes due to an incident involving a passenger onboard,” it said in an emailed statement.
“There were no other factors. Our internal process is ongoing and we cannot comment further.”
Barry was on Monday asked for further comment about the alleged abuse and the delay being twice as long as she claimed.
“My earlier statement to The Post covered those allegations of no ‘abuse’ from me and that weather conditions were an additional factor in flight’s delay,” she responded via text message.
“I won’t be making any further comment until after the Air NZ investigation is complete.”
Barry was accused of bullying by several former staffers in 2018, including swearing at them, but vigorously denied those claims and they were not upheld following investigations.
The former broadcaster came into politics in 2011 and into Cabinet in 2014, where she served as Conservation Minister, Seniors Minister and Arts Minister. She retired from Parliament in the 2020 general election.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed an official report about the incident had not yet been filed by the airline, but was required within 14 days. Under the Civil Aviation Act anyone using “threatening, offensive, or insulting words towards a crew member” can be fined up to $5000.
Maggie Barry’s statement from Saturday in full:
I can confirm there was a minor misunderstanding that was quickly resolved between myself and cabin crew on a Friday flight from Queenstown.
The confusion was around my mobile phone which I was wearing on a long strap around my neck and which was mistaken for a small bag that should be stored for the flight. As I’d often carried my phone that way on other flights, I wasn’t sure at first what they were asking me to do, so there was a misunderstanding initially. Once I understood the cause of the confusion, I took the phone off and showed them and they asked me to store it in the pocket in front of me for takeoff so I then switched it to flight mode and did as instructed.
The flight had been delayed by about 20 mins leaving Queenstown regrettably, but a large contributing factor to the later landing in Auckland were the strong headwinds and high altitude turbulence and the pilot announced we should all stay in our seats with seatbelts on for most of the flight. Several airports around the North island had had flights cancelled or delayed because of the weather conditions which also contributed to our later than scheduled landing time in Auckland.
I had almost no interaction, a few words at most, with other passengers although I had a brief chat with a young musician who said how much he’d enjoyed Queenstown which I agreed with, and that he was worried about his flight connection. I commented to him that the cabin crew were doing an excellent job reassuring passengers and providing information about how to manage the additional weather related delays and he agreed. I saw no “abuse” on the flight and certainly there was none from myself to any cabin crew or passengers.
The pilot and Police woman were very calm and professional in our brief chat in the cockpit and asked me if I was prepared to obey crew instructions. I responded “absolutely” and reassured them that I always have and always will follow crew instructions as I had already on that flight.
The misunderstanding was quickly resolved in a professional and measured way by the pilot, crew members and policewoman and there were no further developments on the flight apart from those that were weather related.
I have subsequently been in contact with Air New Zealand and told them I would support any further investigation and cooperate fully. I understand this is the approach the airline always takes in relation to these sorts of issues and I commend them on taking any incidents in an aeroplane seriously and supporting their staff. I am happy to speak with them to resolve any issues.
As a very frequent flyer over many years I have always had enormous respect for the important work our pilots and flight crews do and to follow the wise old safety message to “Always follow the instructions of your crew – they know what to do”.