The incident occurred on a flight from New Plymouth to Christchurch on 4 April. Photo: New Plymouth District Council / Supplied
A New Plymouth woman has questioned the level of security on domestic flights after an embarrassing coincidence that saw her delayed boarding a plane because someone had already used her identity to check in.
The incident occurred on a flight from New Plymouth to Christchurch on 4 April in which the woman, her former husband and his new partner were all booked.
The woman had booked her ticket months before to attend the Rod Stewart concert in Dunedin and did not know the pair were on the flight when she was refused a boarding pass because she had already "checked in".
Thoroughly confused, she insisted she had not checked in. After showing photo ID a boarding pass was eventually issued.
However, the woman, who Stuff has agreed not to identify, was then stopped again at the boarding gate because her name was the same as a passenger already seated.
She was eventually escorted to the waiting plane and made to stand at the front while the woman booked under her name was removed.
She said she believed her former husband had booked the ticket for his new partner using her name as a registered "giftee" so he could pay for the ticket with his airpoints.
"Until I got on that plane and worked out what had happened I had no idea what was going on," she said.
"I can't believe it's possible. That you can get on a plane under any name. You can be whoever you want to be, domestically at least."
While Air New Zealand crew treated her with courtesy, she said the episode left her feeling humiliated.
She said she also felt violated that her identity could so easily be used by someone else with repercussions on her own freedoms.
To rub salt into the wound, she was called by the airline once she arrived in Christchurch to pick up the bags that had been checked-in under her name - bags that belonged to the other women.
Then, when returning to New Plymouth from Christchurch, she was again prevented from checking in like other passengers and again questioned about her identity, and required to provide photo ID to prove who she was.
She said she had tried to contact Air New Zealand numerous times to seek reassurances there was no red flag against her name, but only received an unsatisfactory "PR" call back after media began asking questions about her case.
The woman said she was aware the incident was a coincidence unlikely to happen often, but it was still shocking to learn the security bar was set so low for domestic air travel.
Those travelling on domestic flights in New Zealand do not necessarily need to provide identity documents before boarding, though airlines are entitled to request such documents.
Air New Zealand would not comment on the woman's individual case, citing privacy.
A spokesperson said such incidents were a rare occurrence, "as we trust our customers to do the right thing".
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson said a passenger flying under the incorrect name did not reach the reporting threshold for a "security incident".
Under Civil Aviation Rule Part 12 a "security incident" was defined as one that involves "unlawful interference".
The CAA said as with other modes of public travel in New Zealand, they did not require proof of identity from passengers boarding domestic flights.
There was no way of knowing how widespread the use of false names on domestic flights might be because incidents of people travelling under other people's names were not reported to the CAA.
In Australia, domestic passengers do not need to show ID, though there were calls for that to change in 2017 after state police raised concerns criminals were regularly travelling under assumed identities.
In the United States, adult passengers boarding domestic flights must show valid identification in order to travel.
In 2018, Jetstar began requiring New Zealand domestic passengers dropping off bags to show identification.
This story was originally published on Stuff.