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Whatever happened to the freedom pilots??? Did they keep cmds etc when they went back to Air NZ??? How did the intergration go with the 2 groups???
1.Mostly they took jobs within AirNZ as S/O's or F/O's. Some buggered off.
2. No.
3. Depends who you ask. The answer to 2. above is some of it.
Freedom pilots brokered a deal whereby they were integrated into Air NZ with positions according to seniority, meaning all Captains lost their commands BUT, they retained Airbus command salaries for a period of up to 6 years (by which time, who knows what will be going on!)
Some F/Os remained on the 'Bus on Air NZ terms and conditions, some took S/Os jobs (but on Airbus money)
Some took leave without pay (offered for up to 5 years) but very few actually "buggered off" ie resigned. In fact I can only think of one.
Overall, it was a surprisingly generous deal.