22 Mar 2010

Air NZ apologises for offending Tongans

10:00 pm on 22 March 2010

Air New Zealand is apologising to the Tongan community for a cabin crew training manual that says Tongan passengers may want to drink the plane dry.

The comments were in a section aimed at helping crew members deal with passengers from different ethnicities.

The airline has apologised to the Tongan Advisory Council and to Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni, who is of Tongan and Samoan descent.

In a letter to the council, Air New Zealand's international general manager, Ed Sim, apologises unreservedly, saying the remarks are in an outdated manual that is not used for training new crew members.

Council chair Melino Maka says the content is extremely offensive but he accepts the apology. He says the council wants to help the airline develop a better understanding of the Tongan culture and has offered to help educate its staff.

Ms Sepuloni says the comments are completely unacceptable. She also accepts the apology, saying that she understand that airlines try to be culturally sensitive when it comes to dealing with different ethnicities.