S.P.A.N.Z. PILOTS

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 1

S.P.A.N.Z. PILOTS

Transfer To N.A.C.

No S.P.A.N.Z. pilot going to the National Airways Corporation would suffer any salary loss, said the general manager of N.A.C. (Mr D. A. Patterson) yesterday afternoon.

Eight pilots from S.P.A.N.Z. are going to N.A.C. —six captains and two co-pilots. All will undergo the three-day familiarisation course at N.A.C. headquarters which is required of all new pilots to acquaint themselves with the corporation and Its functions. “After the course four of the six S.P.A.N.Z. captains will become N.A.C. captains,” said Mr Patterson, “and, in agreement with the Airline Pilots’ Association, they will be placed at the foot of the N.A.C. captains’ seniority list. The other pilots on the course will become N.A.C. DC3 copilots.” Mr Patterson said that the two S.P.A.N.Z. captains for whom there were no captaincies at present available would, however, be paid at the same rate they received with S.P.A.N.Z. as captains. He said that the pilots would therefore receive their S.P.A.N.Z. rates of pay, less any special allowances which might have been paid to them by S.P.A.N.Z. For example, S.P.A.N.Z. co-pilots had received an allowance for handling baggage. Mr Patterson emphasised that the position of the pilots in the seniority list had been fixed in agreement between the A.L.P.A. and N.A.C. and that none of the pilots was transferring from S.P.A.N.Z. to the corporation. They were, in fact, leaving one job and accepting another. With regard to other S.P.A.N.Z. staff, N.A.C. had offered employment to those with suitable qualifications who had applied for positions with the corporation, he said. The New Zealand Press Association reports a commercial airline in Western Australia is negotiating for the services of four of S.P.A.N.Z.’s top captains. A senior S.P.A.N.Z. pilot, who wished to remain anonymous. said Captain R. D. Daniell, head of S.P.A.N.Z., visited Perth to look into the transfer.

The four pilots involved had clocked 40,000 flying hours among them, said the pilot.