I can totally see why VA management want VANZ crew to be able to operate domestic sectors, not just for a cost reduction (which would be dubious if you looked at the true cost), but more likely from a logistical point of view, especially when the resource group is stretched as it is right now.
VAA needed VANZ crew during the Qantas grounding and thankfully the unions negotiated a temporary pay increase for those VANZ pilots. VANZ has required VAA crew, not only in the past, but right now as we speak with the latest batch of VANZ pilots returning to the other mothership (Air NZ) and beyond.
One thing that is lost on many is that Australians make up a large portion of the VANZ and Jetconnect pilot group, particularly the former, as unless you wanted to be an SO, this was the only entry point for a jet job at VA. Kudos to VA for avoiding redundancies with VARA, but VA management needs to come to the realisation that having a large group of Australians, including many from Perth, working in NZ away from their home is going to be problematic logistically and financially now and into the future.
In the past (and maybe still now), the typical response from management was that if you don't like it you can leave, we'll replace you (largely at the cost of the new candidate). With Air NZ hiring strongly and likely to continue for many years to come, the pool of qualified and quality candidates in NZ is small.
Now what is going to happen in Australia if the long awaited recruitment at Qantas begins? You can bet VA will be parking aircraft, and you can bet VA management know this, but what are they doing to prevent or lesson the effects of this (apart from sell more aircraft!). VA has been able to recruit many quality candidates with the absence of recruitment at QF and they will be the first to go. VA may be in for a major reality check, as their contempt for their workforce comes to a head in the coming months and years.
Back on topic, one has to wonder why VANZ (and Jetconnect) even exist, or are allowed to exist? We all watched that Hungry Beast video years ago and nothing came of it. Big business always win at the cost of the worker. Neither company operates domestically anymore when there was a justified reason for NZ bases.
If there was ever a time for the entire VA pilot group to be unified, now is that time.
Last edited by Ten Two Hundred; 4th Jul 2016 at 10:14.