Airline warns of strike threat flights chaos

Nearly one in three Air New Zealand international flights will be cancelled over six days from July 18 if the majority of the carrier’s long-haul cabin staff goes on strike, the company warned today.

Between 15 and 20 international flights a day will be cancelled due to the strike by 1,000 cabin crew – or about 80% of the staff – called after employment contract talks broke down, general manager Ed Sims said.

“The disruption will be quite substantial,” he said.

A contingency plan to cover the cabin crews’ action “will see the travel arrangements of around 14,000 New Zealand and overseas customers affected”, Sims said in a statement.

The airline said services to Asian destinations, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Nagoya and Kansai would probably be most affected by the industrial action.

Some Boeing 747 and 767 services to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth will also be affected, as well as flights through Pacific nations to Los Angeles.

“Around 70% of long haul flights (will) operate over the six days of the proposed strike, with no impact on domestic services” in New Zealand, he said.

The airline and its long-haul cabin crews have been unable to reach agreement on pay, meal allowances and annual leave entitlements, despite months of talks.

Sims said the flight attendants claims would cost 14.2 million New Zealand dollars (£5.3 million) over three years.

“Simply, we cannot bear that cost in a business that is doing its best to rebuild and compete in an industry still facing huge challenges and spiralling fuel costs,” he said.

Air New Zealand was rescued by a government cash injection in 2001 after it nearly collapsed in the wake of the failure of its subsidiary, Ansett Australia.

The government currently owns 82% of the national carrier.