Airline freezes bosses' pay

Air New Zealand has frozen salaries of senior executives, halted bonus payments and is considering slashing jobs to compensate for soaring fuel costs and sliding passenger demand, according to an internal memo leaked to the media.

Pay increases for managers will be achieved only through staff reductions or increased productivity, chief executive Rob Fyfe said.

Mr Fyfe said he and senior management would be the first to feel the squeeze with their salaries frozen for a year.

Other managers will earn less through the loss of short-term incentive bonuses. Another measure is the reviewing of “non-essential” activities that may lead to job cuts, the memo said.

It was not immediately clear how many of the airline’s 11,000 staff could be lost.