News
Air New Zealand raises awareness of sign language at 35,000 feet
May 7th 2024
On May 6, Air New Zealand (Air NZ) flight NZ421, from Auckland to Wellington, was operated with cabin crew using New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) to communicate to passengers as part of New Zealand’s Sign Language Week. Read More » The five cabin crew on board the domestic flight used NZSL for inflight passenger announcements and on board service offerings. Passengers were provided with illustrated cards showing signs of popular inflight items such as cookie, lolly and water. “We are thrilled we could support NZSL Week and recognise its importance as an official language of Aotearoa by encouraging our crew to show their signing skills on this flight,” Air NZ senior aircraft programmes manager and the lead of the airline's Enable Network, Ed Collett, said. Aotearoa is the Maori word for New Zealand. About 400 Air NZ employees have completed a NZSL training module developed in partnership with Deaf Aotearoa, which provided them with lessons on 30 travel-related signs. “This year's theme for NZSL Week is 'an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere'. There was no better example of this than on NZ421,” Deaf Aotearoa CEO, Lachlan Keating, said.
