Former Air NZ staff say they are “disappointed” their applications to be re-hired were declined, while the airline looks overseas for cabin crew.
The airline has been under pressure due to staffing shortages and sickness. On Thursday it announced it would operate a reduced schedule over the next six months and there would be 1.5% fewer seats than originally planned.
It has told its current staff that it is looking at various options to help ease pressure, including bringing in crew from China to fly all routes out of Auckland.
One cabin crew member who worked for the company for more than 15 years said he had “no idea” why his application to be re-hired was denied while the airline was under staffing pressure.
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The person, who Stuff has agreed not to name because he worried it would damage his employment prospects, said he received a nameless, generic response.
“To get that when you have been there for a long period and put a lot of your life into the company was just disappointing and sad,” he said.
Air NZ has used China-based workers to work as cabin crew on flights out of Shanghai since 2007.
An Air NZ spokesperson said it was exploring whether it could base these attendants in this country for a while, because they could be retrained more quickly than someone who had not flown before.
“At this stage, we are only exploring this option to understand the retraining and entry requirements are before we can confirm, and we are continuing to recruit and onboard a large number of flight attendants within New Zealand.”
Air NZ has also advertised positions to Australians on Seek.
E Tu union head of aviation, Savage, said it was a shame Air NZ was not making the most of the New Zealanders who wanted to return to their former roles, before looking overseas.
“There is a real risk to the company that perfectly good crew, that are loyal and still want to work for them two years after being made redundant, are being forced away by the non-transparent re-hiring practices,” Savage said.
In May 2020, Air NZ made around 1300 staff redundant because of the impacts of Covid-19.
There are still 130 former crew members on the company’s “staying connected” register, on which former staff can see new job listings.
But of those crew, 60 have been sent letters stating they would not be re-hired, even if an applicable job was available.
Of those, 30 and 40 former staff members told the union they would still like to work at the company if there was an opportunity, Savage said.
The Air New Zealand spokesperson said more than 1000 people who were let go in 2020 had been rehired and the airline was still rehiring staff.
“When anyone is rehired at Air New Zealand, we take into account a multitude of factors and it’s standard practice to review previous performance, demonstration of Air New Zealand values and leadership behaviours, and to undertake internal reference checks before any decision is made.
“For anyone who recently had their expressions of interest declined, we understand this news would have been disappointing for them and we have invited these people to contact us directly if they want to discuss this further or they wish to reapply. We’ve been speaking to people directly to provide feedback, and for those who have chosen to reapply, we’ve had a number who have been successful in securing cabin crew roles.”
After pressure from the union, Air NZ agreed to open up individual conversations with some affected staff, and some staff members had been rehired as a result, Savage said.
But Savage said the protracted and non-transparent re-hiring process had left many staff members concerned that a “culture of favouritism” had crept into Air NZ.
“Crew members that have been denied rehiring are concerned that their records are not accurate and someone or something is standing in their way unfairly.
“They don’t have a chance to address the concern or have an honest conversation with the company because they don’t know what it is that is stopping their re-hiring.”
The situation was not affecting only cabin crew, but also ground crew and customer service agents, he said.
One former customer service agent, who worked for Air New Zealand for more than three years, said the problems with the re-hiring process were forcing her to consider whether it was worth it to return.
“We are putting our hands up to come back to peak times with understaffing, sickness and potentially many disgruntled customers… I think it should be celebrated and encouraged,” she said.
“Instead many ex-staff have been declined positions, and that is just sad.”
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