Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has launched an extraordinary broadside against Air NZ, suggesting the chairman steps down and CEO stay out of politics.

Jones is furious about the announcement earlier this month that the airline is ending flights to the Kāpiti Coast, which comes after flights to Kaitaia were axed in 2015.

He challenged a regional manager on the issue last week and repeated his comments on Tuesday, drawing a strong rebuke from board chairman Tony Carter.

Supplied Shane Jones: "Your job is not to be a publicity officer and try and thwart the legitimate role of a Parliamentarian."

The Government owns 52 per cent of the company, but it operates as a commercial business with no public service obligations other than returning a profit. Air New Zealand is not covered by the State Owned Enterprises Act, but is run as a private company under the Companies Act.

READ MORE:

* Shane Jones continues war of words with Air NZ as chairman hits back

* PM defends Shane Jones' warning to Air NZ to stop shutting down regional flights

* Concern for future of Kāpiti Coast Airport after Air NZ axes flights

* Air NZ announces regional network cuts

On Tuesday, Carter wrote a strongly worded letter to Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who manages the Government's stake, making the company's independence clear.

Te Kāea Air New Zealand has pulled out of yet another route and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones isn't happy.

"Any appearance of a lack of commercial independence is viewed seriously by the Air New Zealand Board and is ultimately potentially damaging to the interests of all shareholders, including the Crown," Carter said.

These comments were echoed by CEO Christopher Luxon on RNZ on Wednesday morning.

Jones told Stuff on Wednesday morning that Air NZ's CEO should decide whether he wants to be in politics or business, and should resign if his choice is politics.

JOHN ANTHONY/STUFF Air New Zealand chairman Tony Carter says the company needs to remain independent.

"If you want to be a politician step down today. Otherwise get back into your box," Jones said.

He also called for the chairman's head, and said the board needed to be more responsive to its majority shareholder - the Government.

"Do I stand by my words that the chair Mr. Carter has long since outlived his usefulness? Absolutely," Jones said.

"I and my party have every right as democratically elected Parliamentarians to take on this corporate board. Especially when it continues to act as if they are serving the last political regime."

Former Prime Minister John Key is a director on the board.

"I think Air NZ need to accept that they are majority owned by the Crown. And the Crown has a mission to govern for the entirety of the country," Jones said.

"The Crown has a legitimate interest in ensuring that the board is both cognisant and responsive to the majority shareholder which surprise surprise includes provincial New Zealand."

Asked whether Air NZ owed the Crown anything more than a profit Jones demurred, but said there were other profitable models which could help the regions.

"We as a new Government have our pillars of wellbeing and one pillar is that we don't want the provinces to be second rate citizens just for the board of Air NZ to run a corporate model that deliberately downgrades provincial New Zealand - that's a deliberate model, and it's not the only model."

He said the board needed to change its direction and he was Googling who the other boardmembers were.

Jones said he had not talked to Robertson yet but assumed he would bump into him today.

Robertson said on Tuesday Air NZ would make decisions about regional airlines, and he didn't think "anybody will be surprised Shane Jones is advocating strongly for the regions".

"Ultimately they make their own operational decisions, that has not changed, that's simply the nature of the arrangement of the ownership."

As a majority shareholder the Government would wield some power over filling any vacancies.

The Air NZ constitution states that at least a third of the board must resign at the annual shareholders meeting in September, but can be re-elected.

Robertson noted this power yesterday but did not suggest wielding it to force Air NZ to increase regional flights.

Jones is also the associate transport minister.

National's regional development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said Jones needed to discipline himself.

"Attacking public companies is a strange approach to economic development," Goldsmith said.

"It is up to Air New Zealand to defend its record in regional New Zealand, and it's perfectly appropriate for politicians to raise questions of performance, as my colleague Nathan Guy has done."

"What's not acceptable is a style of politics based on attacks on businesses and their leaders.

Guy has started a petition to save the Kapiti route.

Jones said any National Party MPs attacking him were also attacking the provinces.

Air NZ was privatised in the late 1980s, but the Government bought back a major stake in the airline in 2001 to stop it collapsing.

That stake was reduced to 52 per cent by the last National Government.