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Maggie Barry. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Former politician Maggie Barry has denied abusing an Air New Zealand staff member, despite police boarding the plane to speak to her about her behaviour.
The former conservation minister and National Party MP was on an Air NZ flight to Queenstown from Auckland last week when she said there was a "misunderstanding" about the phone she was wearing on a lanyard around her neck.
Barry claims her phone was mistaken for a bag that needed to be stored. After a "minor disagreement", she removed the phone and put it in the seat pocket.
However, Captain David Morgan, chief operational and integrity manager for safety at Air NZ, said the flight was delayed for 40 minutes after a passenger was alleged to have become abusive towards staff and another passenger after failing to comply with instructions from the crew.
"Airport police were called to the aircraft. The incident resulted in a delay in the departure of the flight. Air New Zealand expects our crew to be treated with respect at all times and we are providing support to the cabin crew member who experienced the [incident]."
A police spokesperson confirmed an officer boarded the plane and spoke to Barry and the pilot.
No further action was required.
After the delay, the plane took off - with Barry on board.
The New Zealand Herald approached Barry for comment.
She said in a statement provided to The Post that the flight was delayed for 20 minutes, and a "strong contributing factor" for the delay was headwinds, rather than her behaviour.
She admitted to a minor misunderstanding but said she did not become abusive to anyone at any point.
"I saw no 'abuse' on the flight and certainly there was none from myself to any cabin crew or passengers," she said.
"The pilot and policewoman 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."
Barry said she had been in touch with Air NZ since the incident and would co-operate fully with any investigation that might be launched.
"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'."
Maggie Barry's previous bullying allegations
In 2018, while she was still in Parliament, Barry was investigated twice over claims that she bullied staffers. These included accusations that she expected staff to do political party work on taxpayer time, which would be unlawful.
Allegations made by a staffer to the Parliamentary Service said Barry regularly swore and yelled at employees, belittled their intelligence and appearance, discussed their sexuality in the workplace, and used derogatory terms such as "nutter" about people with mental health issues.
Barry denied all the allegations and said the Parliamentary Service had made no findings of bullying or harassment.
"The allegations were vigorously denied and disputed and were thoroughly investigated by Parliamentary Service. There was no finding that bullying or harassment had occurred," she said.
"The issues have all been resolved professionally and by mutual agreement. I have wished the employees concerned well and so I am surprised to see they are being repeated in a partial, selective and incomplete way."
Air New Zealand urges calm amid increase in abuse
Morgan said the airline has seen an increase in the number of passengers abusing their staff - as well as an increase in the severity of incidents.
Almost 200 incidents of abuse are reported to the airline every month, something Morgan says is unacceptable.
"We have zero tolerance for such behaviour and will take action to ensure that abusive customers are no longer able to travel with us if needed to ensure the safety of our team and customers."
Every month Air NZ issues between five and 10 passengers with bans ranging from 24 hours to permanent. These follow a range of disruptive behaviours, including failing to follow instructions and intoxication.
- This story was first published by the New Zealand Herald.
