By Rebecca Wright
When 3 News revealed how easy it was to manipulate all three domestic airlines’ electronic check-in systems the Transport Minister ordered them to 'please explain' something he himself had to do in Parliament today.
“I think it’s safe to say that just about everybody who uses the transport system was unaware of this security breach,” says Mr Joyce.
The Minister himself was unaware he featured in our investigation.
We filmed him at Auckland Airport going through security and are moments later we checked in as him again, adding another bag to his ticket without him knowing.
The Minister agrees the issues are serious.
Security expert Ronnie McQuilter says it's the mechanism of printing multiple boarding passes that the airline needs to fix.
“If you've already checked in and you've said ‘I'm here, my bags are here’ that should be the end of it. If you need more you should have to go and seek help. There's no way in a million years you should be able to do that,” he says.
But it was still possible today.
Air New Zealand says it's "working swiftly to implement a fix" but wouldn't comment on when or if it expects the loophole we've exposed to be closed.
And it might not be straight forward for Australian airline Jetstar either, both its kiosks and its web check-in allow passengers to print off as many boarding passes as they like.
Mr Joyce has told us he wants the problems identified in our story fixed within days.
All three airlines have been ordered by the Civil Aviation Authority to investigate how we were able to exploit their electronic check-in systems.
Those reports are due back to the director tomorrow before they're passed on to the minister. If the airlines can't satisfy the CAA they've solved the problem - a formal investigation by the regulator will begin.
3 News