A person identifying themselves as a working flight attendant for a New Zealand airline has said "the majority" of travellers coming into New Zealand are not wearing a mask for their whole flight.
The person, writing under a newly-created Reddit account, created an AMA (ask me anything) post on the New Zealand Reddit page, and fielded questions from a number of other users.
The user said that "the majority" of travellers flying into New Zealand are still not wearing a face mask for the entire time they are onboard, and also described New Zealand's initial screening practices as "a real worry".
"In March and early April when you'd arrive into NZ, you’d disembark the aircraft into the long corridors leading to duty free but before entering duty free they had MOH workers taking forms and reviewing them before letting you through," they wrote.
"This sounds fine and all but when you have three aircraft arriving around the same time from different places, you end up with a corridor of hundreds of people from different countries stuck, filling in little forms then joining a slow moving line with three people checking forms at the front.
"It was a breeding ground for Covid - so many people, stuck in a small space for 15-30 minutes from different flights.
"Once your form was checked you were allowed to continue to duty free then passport control.
"This was when NZ told incoming people to self isolate but didn’t police it or have the hotel system in place.
"That was a real worry - walking past that after every flight and seeing hundreds of people crammed together from different flights before entering the country not in quarantine."
Procedures at airports and isolation rules have been continually tightened up since then, with the government imposing stricter conditions on those who enter New Zealand, including mandatory isolation and testing.
The attendant also touched on their employment status, saying some of the airline staff who had been told their jobs were gone had since been hired back due to increasing domestic demand.
"For about two months we didn't know about our job security so it was an anxious time - the last few weeks have been good though," they said.
"We did lose around 45 per cent of our workforce in my team, so it was sad to have many friends leave.
"We work with different people every day out of a team of over 500, so I would've worked with at least half of the ones that were made redundant.
"Good news that some have already been called back thanks to the upturn in domestic bookings - thank you :)"
The attendant said they are now happy with the level of personal protective equipment being provided to attendants on flights, and said the isolation measures being taken by attendants travelling overseas is strict and adequate.
A spokesperson for Air New Zealand said that the airline continues to follow Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport advice "to keep our customers and crew safe.
"On our international flights, crew are required to wear face masks and gloves during food and drink service and any face-to-face interaction with customers.
"Our jet aircraft are fitted with hospital-grade air filtration systems that filter out viruses, and hand sanitiser is also available in airports and on aircraft for customers and staff to use as they wish.
"Our cabin crew and pilots take the wellbeing of our customers very seriously and are aware of the guidelines in place to protect them and our passengers.
"When it comes to customers, masks have been available on our international flights for some time and we strongly encourage our customers to wear them.
"On domestic flights, face masks are available on request and customers are more than welcome to bring their own."
In a statement a Ministry of Health spokesperson told 1 NEWS that it "requests that medical grade masks (ie not cloth masks) are made available to all passengers on inbound international flights. Passengers should be strongly encouraged to use these masks as a precautionary measure while on board."
"Under Alert Level 1, it’s more critical than ever that our borders are carefully controlled to keep Covid-19 out. The Ministry of Health is working closely with airports and other key stakeholders to ensure that our requirements are implemented.
"In addition, people entering New Zealand must go immediately into managed isolation or quarantine facilities, where they remain for at least 14 days and must test negative for Covid-19 before they can go into the community."
Justin Tighe-Umbers, co-chair of the New Zealand Aviation Coalition, said the aviation sector was doing all it could to keep Covid-19 controlled at the border.
"The New Zealand international airport environment has changed dramatically since March/April including high frequency cleaning in all areas, hand sanitisers and social distancing messages throughout the terminals."
He said the sector was working hard to ensure technology and systems are strong, and will be ready when borders are selectively opened in the future.
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