Air NZ pilots face demotion, pay cut
TONY WALL - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 18 January 2009
MORE THAN 30 senior Air New Zealand pilots flying the airline's largest jets face demotion to smaller aircraft and reduced pay as the company looks for ways to avoid large-scale redundancies in the difficult economic climate.
The Sunday Star-Times understands 32 pilots currently flying 747s, 777s and 767s on long-haul routes will be "down-trained", meaning they will fly smaller aircraft on domestic routes and have their pay and rank lowered. The airline has about 850 jet pilots, of which about half fly long-haul routes.
Air New Zealand is also offering pilots alternative roles within the company, leave without pay, flexible flying arrangements and enhanced retirement packages. According to a government career advice website, pilots who fly internationally earn up to $250,000.
Company spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said the initiatives were because of an 8% reduction in long-haul capacity as a result of the world economic downturn. Among the long-haul services Air New Zealand cut last year were flights to Japan and Hong Kong from New Zealand.
She said the airline had also made long-haul cabin crew redundant, offered reduced hours to corporate staff, not replaced non-safety sensitive roles and frozen executive pay.
"We have not made any pilots redundant and remain committed to maintaining a workforce of highly skilled and trained professionals to ensure the airline is quickly able to adapt to changing market conditions," she said.
Tim Robinson, head of the Air New Zealand pilots' council, said the union supported the company's initiatives. Although down-training was disappointing for pilots, it was preferable to being made redundant.
Robinson said the airline had also made inquiries about jobs with other airlines on behalf of pilots, although those opportunities were drying up.
Rick Mirkin, executive director of the Airline Pilots Association, said as far as he was aware, the other airlines that had pilots based here, Pacific Blue and Jet Connect, had not made cutbacks, although they flew mainly domestic and regional routes.
Air NZ pilots face demotion, pay cut - Sunday Star-Times - National News