Customer first

Last Tuesday I expected to meet a work colleague flying by an Air New Zealand flight from Palmerston North at 4.45pm. But at short notice, the airline had diverted that flight via Christchurch, and he didn’t arrive until 7.35pm. Then, on Wednesday, when I took him to the airport to catch a 4.15 pm flight to Christchurch, we discovered that that flight had been cancelled. The next, and last flight, was fully booked. However, after some debate with the airline staff, they found a spare seat for him, and he left at 5.45pm.

Some time ago, British Airways decided that their bean-counters had got it wrong, so they embarked on a policy of ‘Customer First’. Is it not time that our national airline followed suit?

We welcome the views of readers. Letters to the editor should be no more than 200 words. All correspondence is at the discretion of the editor, who reserves the right to decline, edit or abridge letters without explanation. Please send your letter to: The Editor, The Nelson Mail, 15 Bridge St, Nelson or fax on 03 546 2802 or email to mailbox@nelsonmail.co.nz. Please include your full first name and last name, address and phone number.

scan the page as ’eyes front’ is all it takes. Maybe never able to read a physical book or write.

Never need to know or eat real food when getting nourishment from a tube or takeaway. Mothers may fertilize themselves, will give new life, but not need to give much else. None will sew, cook, bottle, wash clothes, teach on their lap, play or talk to them. IT will fix all that.

We shall move around in unmanned vehicles. Drink for ever from a bottle. There will be little need for arms or legs, being able to talk to each other, or even, need to collect takeaways, ordered on our ’phone.

The screen will be always on our head, sleep will come, and we shall rise, to wander alone, the next day. I like it the way it still is. included a ‘‘Fluoride, it’s safe, it works’’ quote. Yet, when it came to questions, only one person managed to ask about the DHB’s support of water fluoridation.

We were then told they wouldn’t take any questions about fluoride, but we’d talk about it after the meeting. Others were then allowed to talk about other issues, but only if it wasn’t a ‘‘fluoride question’’.

After waiting almost two hours, the remaining people were then accused of being a ‘group’ as if a number of citizens concerned about their water supply were some sort of subversive organisation. Those who’d tried to speak were shut down by the DHB in a rude and arrogant manner and the meeting adjourned. Some people were so frustrated they were in tears.

As ratepayers at a public meeting, we should have a right to question the publicly elected DHB about its push to fluoridate our water supply.

I amamazed that Aaron Dustin claims to have come up with this original design when in fact it is a well known brand for several associated groups in the United States.

He has changed the colour of one corner as far as I can see and that is all. Claims about traditional taniko and mythology seem very contrived yet social media has promoted this new vision. But how many of those clamorous supporting people are aware that the red peak symbol is already a trademarked item in the US.

Do we want an existing foreign mining logo or the symbol of a finance group, or others as our flag? I don’t.

I will be interested to see the responses from readers to this image (below) so they can decide for themselves about this ‘‘original’’ new option.