Stuff Digital Edition

Air NZ looking to China for new crew

Daniel Smith

Former Air New Zealand staff say they are ‘‘disappointed’’ that their applications to be re-hired were declined, while the airline looks overseas for cabin crew.

The airline has been under pressure due to staff shortages and sickness. On Thursday it announced it would operate a reduced schedule over the next six months, and there would be 1.5% fewer seats than originally planned.

Air NZ has told its current staff that it is looking at various options to help ease pressure, including bringing in crew from China to fly all routes out of Auckland.

One cabin crew member who worked for the company for more than 15 years said he had ‘‘no idea’’ why his application to be re-hired was denied while the airline was under staffing pressure.

The person, whom Stuff has agreed not to name because he was worried it would damage his employment prospects, said he received a nameless, generic response.

‘‘To get that when you have been there for a long period and put a lot of your life into the company was just disappointing and sad.’’

Air NZ has used China-based workers as cabin crew on flights out of Shanghai since 2007.

An Air NZ spokesperson said it was exploring whether it could base these attendants in this country for a while, because they could be retrained more quickly than someone who had not flown before.

Air NZ has also advertised positions to Australians on Seek.

E Tū union head of aviation, Savage, said it was a shame that Air NZ was not making the most of the Kiwis who wanted to return, before looking overseas.

In May 2020, Air NZ made around 1300 staff redundant because of the impacts of Covid-19.

There are still 130 former crew members on the company’s ‘‘staying connected’’ register, on which former staff can see new job listings.

But of those, 60 have been sent letters stating they would not be rehired, even if an applicable job was available. Of those, 30 to 40 had told the union they would still like to work at Air NZ if there was an opportunity, Savage said.

The Air NZ spokesperson said more than 1000 people who were let go in 2020 had been re-hired, and the airline was still re-hiring staff.

‘‘When anyone is rehired at Air New Zealand, we take into account a multitude of factors, and it’s standard practice to review previous performance, demonstration of Air New Zealand values and leadership behaviours, and to undertake internal reference checks before any decision is made.’’

After pressure from the union, Air NZ agreed to open up individual conversations with some affected staff, and some staff members had been re-hired as a result, Savage said. But the protracted and nontransparent re-hiring process had left many staff members concerned that a ‘‘culture of favouritism’’ had crept into Air NZ.

‘‘Crew members that have been denied re-hiring are concerned that their records are not accurate and someone or something is standing in their way unfairly.

‘‘They don’t have a chance to address the concern or have an honest conversation with the company because they don’t know what it is that is stopping their re-hiring.’’

The situation was affecting not only cabin crew but also ground crew and customer service agents, he said.

One former customer service agent, who worked for Air NZ for more than three years, said the problems with the re-hiring process were forcing her to consider whether it was worth it to return.

‘‘We are putting our hands up to come back to peak times with understaffing, sickness and potentially many disgruntled customers,’’ she said. ‘‘Instead, many ex-staff have been declined positions, and that is just sad.’’

Business

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2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281732683264665

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