OpEd – Air New Zealand’s Plummeting Share Prices Spotlights its Problems with Customer Service

 

On November 30, 2020 – Air New Zealand was trading at $1.16 USD per share. About five years later, it’s at $0.585. It’s lost almost half its value.  No wonder; recently, Forsyth Barr analysts downgraded their profit forecasts for the national airline and now says the company is either loss-making, or at best, made a 'small' profit in the second half of the 2025 financial year.

Even in April of this year, Air NZ tried to downplay its losses by stating that the price “is down 33% over five years [more like 50%], but the total shareholder return is 30% once you include the dividend. That's better than the market which returned 24% over the same time.” In other words: better you lost only half your money, instead of all your money.

In stark contrast, during November of 2020, Singapore Air sold at $6.82 per share. Now, it’s at $10.21 a share, an almost 50% return in the black. What’s happening?

The exiting CEO of Air NZ, Greg Foran, wants to blame its technology and machines. On April 17, 2025 – Foran told Aviation A2Z, “A major factor in the reduced earnings forecast is ongoing engine reliability issues.” This tells you how off the mark he is.

Just as the company fudged the numbers about its stock losses, nothing could be further from the truth regarding Air NZ’s main problem: its terrible customer service.

In March and April of this year, I had the pleasure of flying on Singapore Airlines. I could not find an airline ticket. I contacted the executive office, who worked tirelessly, called me back three times, and found me the flight I needed.

Knowing the importance of the trip, Singapore Air gave me the best service on the airline. And when I departed from Singapore to Auckland, an employee from Singapore Air fixed a glitch in my e-visa issue by calling New Zealand Immigration and working it out with them for over 20 minutes.

Then came my experience with Air New Zealand. Although I had enough miles on a partner airline, Air New Zealand was not releasing any mileage tickets. When I contacted the executive office, they ignored my request. I had to complain to its mileage network program called Star Alliance. Even then, Air NZ said they couldn’t help me to find any mileage tickets, since it wouldn’t be fair to other customers. (In Air NZ’s mind everything is fair, when everyone gets bad customer service.)

Eventually, I was lucky to find a mileage ticket, but was then overcharged for my luggage from Wellington to Auckland. When I complained to the executive office again, not only did I get a sarcastic response from the executive assistant, I was told by the Chair of the Board that there was nothing they could do to fix the problem. They were being fair (again).

In December of 2024, native Kiwi, Grant Evans experienced similar types of problems. In short, saving “nickels and dimes”, instead of keeping their word to their customers. I thanked the chair and knew this company was not worth investing in. When I checked the sinking stock price, it only confirmed what my heart already knew. Air NZ was a dying business.

To be fair, Air NZ is blessed with hardworking and hospitable staff. The problem is with its leadership, its business objective of nickeling and diming customers, bait switching, and its broken trust with its customers. Like Gulf Air, who hired Singaporean CEO, Dr. Jeffrey Goh (a non native to Bahrain) it’s time for Air NZ to find new and more diverse and global leadership, who understand that businesses make money by serving their customers, not treating them like EFTPOS cards.