Tara Anne MacKay from Dunedin has been slapped with 300 hours of community service plus 12 months of supervision after a state of drunkenness pushed her to go on a rampage onboard an Air New Zealand flight on August 2013.

Drunk Ms MacKay repeatedly bit the hand of a female flight attendant and then kicked the groin of a male attendant during a flight to Bali.

But the flights attendants she hurt opined she should have been slapped with a prison sentence for her "horrific outburst."

"It's great that the woman was convicted, but we would obviously prefer a bigger penalty to act as a deterrent to future similar events happening,'' Peter Bentley, general secretary of the Flight Attendants and Related Services Association (Farsa), said.

Ms MacKay, who was with her partner on August 17, attacked Air New Zealand flight attendants when she got drunk on during the flight to Bali.

She was yelling and swearing loudly. Later she spilled her drink.

Attendants tried to calm her down. But Ms MacKay refused. She even hurled her drink at another female attendant. A struggle then ensued which later pushed the drunken passenger to lock herself in the toilet. She refused to come out.

Upon the captain's authorization, the crew unlocked the door and wrestled with Ms MacKay to pull her out of the bathroom. It was during this flurry that even when already handcuffed the drunken passenger was able to bite the hand of Susan Lawson-Hurst and then kicked the groin of an unidentified male attendant. Ms Lawson-Hurst suffered a swollen and bruised hand with a suspected hairline fracture.

At the Dunedin District Court, Ms MacKay admitted assault with intent to injure. She cannot recall all of the events that happened on that flight. She said had the cabin crew left her and gave her space, she would have calmed down.

She did admit however that she should not have drunk as much.

"There are a lot of things that happen in incidents like this that might have a causal effect if there was a safety incident at that time," Mr Bentley said.

Aside from the 300 hours of community service plus 12 months of supervision, Ms MacKay has to complete drug and alcohol counseling.