Indianzz
The problem with passengers is they are totally un aware of what is going on behind the scenes. All you want is to go on time and arrive at your destination.
Did you know that to leave on time the Air NSN pilots, even though they are not required to, get down the back and clean the cabin with the flight attendant? They do this because 20 mins is not enough time to taxi in, deplane, clean up, emplane and depart for only the FA cleans. However the company has set goals for them to depart on time so they do extra to achieve this.
Sometimes crews will cut a meal break short to achieve on time proformance.
There are hundreds of examples of crews going the extra mile to help the company achieve its goals and to get you to your destination on time. Non of which are recognised come negotiation time.
Apart from the total withdrawal of labour the rest of the industrial action is simply a refusal to work on days off and during annual leave. This is more desruptive than the strike because they do not have enough pilots to cover the roster as the company is relying on pilots coming in on their days off as they do not want to pay the extra salaries.
It is with regret that they have to disrupt travellers such as yourself but believe me it is for your (the travelling public's) good. They could have had a strike over Christmas or Easter but the incompetent negotiators, as you imply, deliberately planned strike action to be the least disruptive to the public.
One more thought.
If Air NZ continue down the path of using tax payer's dollars ( yes we all bailed this company out!) to undermine the biggest work force in this country then the flow on effect to other work sectors will see an even bigger brain drain than what we have now. Imagine Chinese flight crews getting paid half what the Kiwi's are getting to fly you. Wait a minute you don't need to imagine as they are already doing it to the FAs!