Airline policy on men still an issue
NZ National Party political correctness watchdog Wayne Mapp has upped the ante in his quest to force Air New Zealand and Qantas to backtrack on a policy of keeping men away from children travelling unaccompanied on their planes.
Dr Mapp in December filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission after it emerged some men were being asked to shift seats to move them away from children travelling by themselves.
In an updated complaint filed yesterday, Dr Mapp said he had withdrawn his complaint to the Human Rights Commission and instead asked the Human Rights Review Tribunal to make an order on the matter.
He said neither airline had responded to his initial complaint so he believed the tribunal should make a ruling instead.
Dr Mapp said that as it was an issue of public importance, it was also more important that a court decide the issue rather than a mediated resolution be reached.
He has asked the tribunal to make an order that both Air New Zealand and Qantas have breached the Human Rights Act, order both airlines not to repeat the breach, and order the airlines to develop a new child seating policy.
Dr Mapp anticipated a hearing to be held in about four or five months.
Dr Mapp said airlines did have responsibilities to look after children travelling unaccompanied but that should not be done at the expense of discriminating against men.
“If it was not good enough in America 50 years ago for black people to be shunted to the back of the bus, why is it good enough in the early 21st century for men to be shifted because of their sex?”
Graham Muldoon
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