Air New Zealand refused to let a woman board her flight to Tonga because the aircraft had reached its upper weight limit.
Auckland woman Alex Catchpole-Ozpınar was supposed to board her 9.30am flight to Tonga on Monday for a five day holiday but was turned away at the Air NZ check in counter because her aircraft had reached its weight limit.
Catchpole-Ozpınar said she was told by a manager that if an aircraft weighed too much they kicked off the person who was last to book online.
“This is such a screw up I expected way better from Air New Zealand,” she said in a post on the airline's Facebook page.
Air NZ responded with a link to its conditions of carriage which outline that it may refuse to carry any item for safety or operational reasons.
Catchpole-Ozpınar said her five day holiday in Tonga was shortened due to the disruption and her accommodation was non-refundable.
“I was hoping for a positive experience but I feel discouraged to fly with you to the Pacific again.”
She was rebooked on a Tuesday flight but Air NZ said she would need to contact her travel insurance provider regarding accommodation expenses.
Air NZ flies its 168 seater Airbus A320s on the Tonga route on Monday's and the aircraft has a maximum take-off load of 77 tonnes.
Air New Zealand and Catchpole-Ozpınar have been approached for comment.
Aviation commentator and former Air New Zealand employee Irene King said airlines calculated an aircraft's weight by weighing cargo and baggage and applying an average passenger weight.
For most routes there was a standard passenger weight of about 80 kilograms.
For Tonga Air NZ had a special weight, of about 90 or 95kg, because Tongans generally weighed more, she said.
“For Tonga in particular it used to be pretty challenging because the standard passenger was not standard for the Tonga community,” King said.
In 2013 Pacific Island carrier Samoa Air started charging passengers per kilo of body weight rather than per seat.
The initiative was deemed a success by the airline's chief executive.
Airlines could leave freight or luggage behind to get an aircraft within the allowable weight while keeping all passengers on board, King said.
“My experience is they usually take the passenger and leave the baggage to come up on another flight.”
She said the turned away passenger should be entitled to compensation because she was denied the right to travel.
“She's turned up in good faith, she didn't know that the aircraft was going to be overweight.”
King was surprised to hear that the last person to check in online was the first one denied boarding.
“Where is it specified in company policy that that is their rule and if it is company policy then it should be on the ticket.”
Some airlines hold an auction at the gate to entice passengers to volunteer removing themselves from overbooked or overweight aircraft, she said....