It runs like clockwork… until it doesn’t

The last day, and I had to pack up and leave my very comfortable accommodation. I took my time and, as arranged, reached Elspeth’s at around 10am. Simon, her son-in-law, was driving down from Auckland to take part in a bike race at Lake Wanaka, and he arrived about an hour later. Heroically he had just driven straight through from Auckland and was due to catch the ferry at midday. We had a pleasant chat for about half an hour before Simon did a quick inspection of the building project and went on his way.

My flight was scheduled for 4pm, so I bade my fond farewells to Elspeth and left just before midday, This was to allow ample time for dropping the car off and for any unforeseen traffic delays. It all went smoothly and I reached the airport with plenty of time to spare. So far, so good. However… a few minutes before boarding was due to start it was announced that the flight had been cancelled and that we had to go back the way we came and retrieve our bags from the luggage carousal. I did so and then found myself in a massive queue about 100m long, waiting for airline staff to sort out our accommodation and booking arrangements. Without going into a mass of detail, Air New Zealand handled the situation very badly. After I stood in the slow-moving queue for over an hour I finished up, encouraged by the airline staff, making my own booking at the Airport Rydges.

By incredible coincidence Helen’s company was due to handle all the logistics relating to the flight cancellation, but a series of text messages between Helen and me soon established that Air New Zealand hadn’t requested Helen’s company to provide nearly enough hotel rooms. In a further coincidence Helen was due to attend a pre-arranged meeting with the airline the very next day, so she was going to use her father’s own experience to illustrate the dismal failings in Air New Zealand’s procedures.

Meanwhile I was able to enjoy the luxury of a comfortable hotel room and a pleasant dinner at someone else’s expense.Read more