Latest / Best of Business / Kristy McKay: Air New Zealand Head of Regulatory Affairs on the Commerce Commission rejecting calls for inquiry into airports

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Kristy McKay: Air New Zealand Head of Regulatory Affairs on the Commerce Commission rejecting calls for inquiry into airports · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: The COMMICSCE Commission has announced it will not undertake a
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: formal review of airport fees. Air New Zealand has asked
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: the ComCom to review if what the airport was charging
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the airlines was out of control. Christy MacKaye is the
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: head of regulatory affairs for Air New Zealand. Hi Christy,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Hi Heather, are you disappointed or were you expecting this?
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: We were actually pleasantly surprised and happy with what the
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Commerce Commission have seeds. We think it confirms what we've
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: been saying for several years now that these costs are
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: being locked into the system without any oversight.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Okay, so what part I mean? Because they've basically declined
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: to do the review that you want. So what part
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: are you happy about?
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: They have said that the inquiry can't really be done
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: on the legislation as it stands, so they've put it
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: back to the government and said for us to be
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: able to do the work that we would need to do,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: there are some small changes that need to be made.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Basically, yes, and so what are you happy about.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: We think it's good that two independent voices have now
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: come out in the past few months and seeds that
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: there is a problem. This is something we've been saying
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: for over twenty years. So it's good that at least
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: they're acknowledging there's a problem. We don't we're not closer
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: to a solution, but you know, in our world we
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: still take the wins where we can.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: How But do you think the problem is Well.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: We think it's potentially twenty billion dollar problem once you
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: look at what Auckland are planning to spend, and as
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: the Commission said in their report today, they don't really
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: have the tools to look at something that's that big,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: that's across so many years, So that's it could be
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: bigger than twenty billion dollars.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Of course dollar period of time out.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: To twenty forty three, so that's.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: What like twenty years basically, So it's a billion dollars
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: a year, yes, And is that is that the billion
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: dollars on top of the airfares?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Like?
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  Speaker 2: Is that them? Is that the price increase on top
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: of existing airfares?
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  Speaker 3: So I don't know if you want me to get
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: into I do airport regulation, but Basically, the regulated airports
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: have their asset base, and they take the total size
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: of the asset base and then they add a bit
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: of interest on top and then divide it by the
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: number of passengers and then you get your per passenger cost.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: So the bigger your asset base, the more you can
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: pass on to passengers.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: I see what you're doing there, Yeah, okay, what's the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: game plan?
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  Speaker 1: Now?
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  Speaker 2: Are you just going to accept it? Are you going
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: to keep lobbying for some sort of regulation.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: We want what's best for Kiwi travelers, which is that
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: the government can have better oversight of what exactly airports
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: are spending, because it's the key we travelers that pay.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Okay, now, is Greg still around?
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: He is? He's actually on holiday at the moment.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: When's he leaving?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: When is he leaving? Two more weeks?
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: So he's on holiday. He's on holiday two weeks before
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: he leaves at school holidays here that No, it's not.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: It was school holidays last week. Today's the first day
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: they went went back to We're all very grateful for that.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: That's how we know it.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: Yes, I can't I mean on my I can't comment
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: on my boss.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Worry about it. He's not your boss for much longer,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: so let's just smack talk him right now. Did you
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: go to his leaving party?
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Yes?
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  Speaker 2: I did, now, Christy, I heard that the leaving party
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: was booze free because it was in a hangar.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, is that true? That's right. Yes, all of our
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: all of our work sites are dry, Christy.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: That just sucks so badly. How how much did his
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: leaving party?
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  Speaker 3: So it was a wonderful, wonderful.
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  Speaker 2: But like, how fast were you wanting to get out
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  Speaker 2: of the Yeah, there wasn't a dry eye, but there
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: was a dry glass. How fast did you want to
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: get out of there because it was so No?
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: I was. I was happy to be. It was quite
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: cold because it's in the hangout. It was a wonderful tribute.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Whoever's running your events needs you need to go to
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: them and you need to say to them next time
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: in a warm place with drinks, and that's the solution,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: am I right?
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: Okay, thanks, I'll pass that on.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure you will, Christie. Thanks very much, Christy mckaye.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: In New Zealand, he had of regulatory affairs. O. Greg
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  Speaker 2: got ripped off at the end, didn't he? No one
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: has a good time completely sober. Do that I mean,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not advocating alcoholism, but just a couple
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: to lubricate conversations, you know what I mean.
• 4:51
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