September 2, 2016 10:00am by David Farrar

CAA needs to lighten up

New Zealand’s aviation watchdog has criticised Air New Zealand for taking the focus away from the safety in one of its safety videos – but still allowed it to be used.

In an email obtained by One News the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) criticised the airline for including “extraneous material” in its Surfing Safari safety ad.

It suggests this is not the first time the CAA has taken Air New Zealand to task.

“As we have commented previously, the video diverges materially from the ‘safety message’ at times, and whilst I appreciate the need to engage the viewers, the extraneous material detracts from the scope and direction of the safety message,” the email reads.

The CAA needs to lighten up. Because the Air NZ safety videos are entertaining, they get probably 90% watching rates on board where the old safety ones would get barely one in ten watching them after the first time.

However I have to say that their latest video has missed the mark. It is simply just not funny or entertaining despite the comic talent.

I fly often and am usually seated on the front row (by preference). This means I get to have great chats with Air NZ cabin crew. Pretty much every single crew member has admitted, after probing, that they hate the current video. Forcing them to watch it scores of times is a sort of torture.

They all say they loved the Men in Black video and also The Hobbit one. I agree on those. I liked the surfing one that CAA was whining about. But I really can’t stand this current one. I hope they replace it as soon as possible.