[jamesfinlayson]

> That sounds pretty corrupt.

I live in Australia and Australia is not New Zealand... but this sounds exactly like what would happen in rural Australia - people in small towns still do handshake deals because you know and trust most people in town.

Not related to business deals but a family member was flying rurally in Australia maybe 15 years ago and joked about stabbing the pilot with a 4cm nail file. The airport security guy had a good laugh too.

[annzabelle]

I met someone who told me they flew domestically with a licensed hunting rifle in NZ about 10 years ago and they were told to open carry the rifle onto the plane where the flight attendant locked it up.

Unrelated but Finnair's requirements for flying with doctoral swords are wonderful.

[jamesfinlayson]

I'd believe it. In Australia, gun silencers (home made or otherwise) are absolutely illegal. In New Zealand no such limitations. A family member went to New Zealand maybe 15 years ago to somewhere suburban and found a few guys shooting animals in the distance - using silencers (I assume to not make too much noise for anyone nearby).

[inigyou]

Big city or small town flight? Like anywhere, density changes everything. Certainly Auckland and Christchurch and Wellington have proper security procedures and facilities.

[annzabelle]

Late on this, but small town. Turboprop I think. Jets have security but prop planes don't here. It was still large enough to have a waiting area and flight attendants.

[ielillo]

You can do it in the usa too. You need a special briefcase to lock your weapons and declare them at the counter. it’s a complicated, but possible

[annzabelle]

Big difference between specially locked checked briefcase and open carried rifle through the airport.

[inigyou]

So what happens if a new startup in the airport runway sinkhole calibration industry wants to bid on these deals?

[jamesfinlayson]

Rightly or wrongly, you'll probably want to be local to have any chance of winning.

Similarly, a friend who works in engineering went to tender to a country council. Working for a big city firm they had no expectation of getting the job because they were up against a company from another nearby country town. Got to try and tender in case the shoe-in company really blows it, but no expectation of actually getting the job.