Air New Zealand [Archive]

HandoverRichard

27th Dec 2008, 21:08

First of all, my viewpoint: I'm an expat kiwi who moved away from NZ because of the career prospects with Air NZ. It’s my estimate that about 1/3 of NZ pilots leave (mostly to UK and Cathay) for the same reason. I know dozens of pilots in Air NZ and there are many factors which make it a very attractive proposition, IF IT SUITS YOU. I think I have a pretty neutral view of it and no axe to grind (well except for an ex-CEO and militant unionists). It just wasn’t for me.

Air NZ has strong +ve’s and –ve’s, I’ll list them as objectively as I can.

CONS:
The bad news starts with you not being a kiwi. Because there are so many kiwis trying for very few jobs (there are no other serious jet-jobs in NZ with secure, long-term career prospects) I understand it's rare even for an Ozzie to wear a jacket with a Koru. I personally haven't heard of anyone who is a national of anywhere further away getting in, except for one or two who were married to NZers. (Assuming you're not, I don't think the NZ web-order bride industry is very strong. Take another look in a few months after the NZ$ has shrunk some more and things might be a bit better though.) ;)

If they like your application, of course the company is seniority based, and you're looking at 5-8 years in the back seat (SO) with 10000' control floor. I believe the extreme records stand at 3 1/2 years, to 9 1/2 years.

When Air NZ is hiring, most guys joining have in the region of 2000-4000hours, with about a year or two of turbine command. From the point of view of stability and money it offers a good career if you have less than this, and from the point of view of the sluggish career progression it’s pretty rubbish if you are a moderately experienced pilot.

Sadly most of their aircraft purchases are to replace outgoing fleets and it seems that many new destinations will replace other services (rather than actual expansion).

Dull (repetitive) route structure on any fleet, unless you enjoy flying over water.

Present time to wide-body P1 is about 18 years. Time to 737 and A320 command vary massively depending on movement, due to lock-ons and pay and individuals’ preferences - pay is better as long-haul FO than 737 P1 and you work less. A320 command seems to be about 10-12 years at present and pays quite nicely, thank you very much.

PROS:
HOWEVER with the current retirement forecast and fleet expansion, promotion to wide-body command looks likely to drop to a touch below 15 years for a decade. However that's if a former chief recruiter doesn't win ANOTHER court case to allow himself and about 100 more stay in the LHS until they can no longer walk up the stairs in the 747 and the company adds a further 5 years to the retirement age, making it, what, 75? (This has happened twice in the last 15 years, and is quite likely to be tried again in about 3 years).

Having said that, seat-for-seat Air NZ pays very well by most UK/US standards whichever way you choose to measure it. To earn substantially more you would need a job in the UAE or China, but NZ is a nicer place to live (understatement). The only problem with that is that it takes SOOO long to move seats!

You live in NZ. Isolated, but the lifestyle is always in the top 10 places in any survey.

Wide body fleets are pretty good. 777 is expanding and 787s are on their way. (Flip side is the 737FMC classics on domestic with primarily 3 destinations, and A320 is only South Pacific and Oz.)

NZ currency isn't great once you leave the shores, but once you’re in a window seat on the flight deck you’ll be earning enough units of currency that you can holiday nicely pretty much anywhere you care to take the time to travel to (like I said, it’s very isolated down there).

The contract is 100's of pages thick, it's VERY solid, with 'all the extras' and there is a pretty good working relationship between pilots and management. Years ago an abysmal and clueless CEO called Jim McCrea was in charge, and it was unbelievably AWFUL. But since the day he was sacked most pilots and managers of other airlines would envy it.

Most Air NZ pilots I know are pretty much of the same ideal: they have no interest in their careers (what’s the point?) but have fantastic lives between duties.

Internal politics are pretty minimal. There is a small number of guys (mostly due to retire soon) whose ethic seems to be firmly grounded in the coal mines of the 50’s, who hold a grudge about something that happened in the 80’s, otherwise you can rely on working in a friendly environment.

SO:
All you can do is put in your application and see what happens.

If that’s successful, the question becomes “can you handle being wrapped up in cotton wool for your working years, living in one of the world’s most enviable lifestyle countries on one of the most painful career progressions the aviation world has to offer?”