Rules for thee but not for me? New Zealand civil aviation law prohibits vaping onboard commercial flights. One passenger claims he caught a flight attendant vaping moments after she had performed her in-flight safety briefing, which included a warning that it was unlawful to vape onboard.
Air New Zealand Flight Attendant Caught Vaping – It Happens More Often Than You Think
Under New Zealand law, anyone caught vaping onboard a flight may be slapped with a fine of up t0 2500NZD (about 1577USD). This includes flight attendants.
A passenger recounted what occurred onboard a flight from Wellington (WLG) to Napier (NPE):
“I saw the flight attendant having a sneaky vape behind the curtain by the toilet. She inhaled on the vape three times.
“I could even see the blue light, light up on the vape as she inhaled. She then took a mouthful of water which she swirled around in her mouth presumably to dissipate the smell.”
The passenger is worried she is doing this more often:
“Immediate action should be taken … If she’s doing it on this flight, I’m sure she’s doing it on every flight.”
I would not be so quick to make such assumptions…
I see people vaping all the time onboard and I suppose many flight attendants are also trying to quit smoking by vaping. While I personally do not see what the big deal is, it is contrary to law. A flight attendant, of all people, should know better, especially when she is the one performing safety briefings that include a warning not to vape.
Air New Zealand confirmed it is investigating the incident:
“Any complaint of this nature is taken seriously and an investigation was launched immediately. Air New Zealand is currently investigating the claim and we won’t be able to comment further until that is complete.”
Maybe ANZ should investigate its lack of partner award space first, but I digress…
CONCLUSION
A passenger “caught” an Air New Zealand flight attendant vaping onboard a flight. Whether he’s just a busybody or not can be debated, but the irony is rich when the same flight attendant moments earlier had warned passengers not to vape onboard.
Vaping is a drag, but probably a better alternative to smoking cigarettes. Hopefully this flight attendant will be able to quit altogether. I suspect flight attendants vape onboard a lot more often than we might think.
Lmao hypocrisy.
Much ado about nothing unless it’s one of these dragon cloud vaping rigs. If people want to discretely vape on a flight and it keeps them from getting irate and freaking out, I’m all for it.
Discreet vaping with a Juul (as an example) has absolutely no impact on anything in-flight. In fact, no one will notice. On a recent EY flight a passenger in J across from me was not even being discreet and no one cared, no one stopped her, and it was a big whatever. The issue is what @Christian mentioned above, allowing it completely will give free pass to the massive cloud vapes which do have a “footprint.” Otherwise, be discreet and it’s all good.
Vaping has no effect on those around the pax vaping? That’s patently false! Second-hand vaping aerosols contain harmful, toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that can be breathed in by those around the vaping. Moreover, more than a few people are highly allergic to the fumes from a vaping unit that are exhaled by the user. I’m one of them. There was a person on a flight of mine vaping near me that forced me to take medication to counteract the allergic reaction and use an inhaler. Thankfully the FA stopped the person when she saw it after a complaint by another person while I was gasping for air.
Let her vape. Darwin law will take care of her.
Hoping for “Dawin’s Law” to punish flight attendants who ignore safety regulations doesn’t seem like a sensible assuming you’re someone that ever flies in a plane as a passenger….
Let’s not judge an FA’s entire career on whether or not they vaped now and then. I have a feeling that the flight crews here who condemn her are the first to grab an extra small bottle of gin when closing out the cart.