Plan for pay cut, year off for Air N.Z. pilots

Press, 13 February 1982, Page 1

Plan for pay cut, year off for Air N.Z. pilots

PA Auckland The possibility of Air New Zealand pilots taking a 20 per cent pay cut, and one year off in the next five, is under consideration by the company and the pilots. The details have yet to be worked out, but a meeting will be held early next week between the airline’s Director of Flight Operations, Captain David Eden, and the Airline Pilots’ Association.

Captain Eden said yesterday that the pilot surplus was expected to reach 67 by next April and about 100 a year later. A problem was that these pilots would all be required back by the airline in later years, and would certainly all be fully employed by 1987, Captain Eden said. Two other proposals made by the association were less preferred, Captain Eden said. One of these was early retirement with redundancy payments, and the other was the . granting of three years leave without pay to pilots who chose to take it.

However, there is a significant problem with the proposal for a 20 per cent pay cut and one year off in five. The Pilots’ . Association, which is composed at present almost wholly/ of domestic

pilots, is split. Feeling between the association and the breakaway group of overseas pilots — who have not been involved in drawing up the proposal — is bitter. Before the scheme can be taken any further approval will have to be gained from the overseas group. Sources in the overseas group said yesterday that they had heard little about the proposal, and considered it “a scheme of the domestic pilots.” Captain Eden said that the scheme would have to work across the board for success. From the airline’s view point it was the most satisfactory because it retained pilots who would eventually

be needed, and it would keep in employment a number which matched the airline’s requirements. There would be an additional cost in retraining pilots as they came back into service after an absence, but the airline would be prepared for this. Captain Eden said that the redundancies would begin to mount in April because of the phasing out- of the DCIO aircraft. Because of the system of progression from one aircraft type to another, the redundancies would apply to pilots of all aircraft. The proposal was a complex one and a lot of work would be needed yet, he said.