Continental grounded?

Press, 10 November 1983, Page 6

Continental grounded?

PA Auckland Meetings in Auckland, Australia, and the United States within 24 hours will determine whether _ the American airline, Continental will continue to fly to Australia and New Zealand.

The meetings are eleventh-hour attempts to overcome threatened strikes by unions in Australia and New Zealand to stop Continental flights. Continental has been at the centre of disputes between unions and management since it filed in bankruptcy and reorganised itself using non-union labour. Australian unions earlier in the week banned all flights by Continental, a move which was endorsed by the executive of the Federation of Labour. The ban is to take effect from midnight today. < A Continental flight due to arrive at Auckland tomorrow morning would be the first affected.

However, Continental management hopes the three meetings would provide a solution to enable flights to continue. The New Zealand manager of Continental, Mr W. W. L. Clague, said yesterday that the Australian Council of Trade Unions would meet the company in Melbourne last evening. Mr Clague is to meet the secretary of the New Zealand Airline Pilots’ Association today. In the United States, the pilots’ association and the company had resumed talks after the appointment, of a mediator. Mr Clague said he hoped the results of those meetings, or any of them, would allow Continental to continue flying. He was ada-

ment that the airline woul< fly tomorrow, irrespectivi of the results of the meet ing. “Our plans are to operatt the aircraft normally oi Friday,” he said. “Passen gers should be at the airpor at normal reporting times.” The Public Servici Association, members o which include air traffi< controllers and emergency crash fire services, will bal lot its members today. A field officer of th< association, Mr Joris d< Bres, said the result of tha ballot would not be knowi until next week. In tin meantime, he said, P.S.A members would respect th< proposed picket line by Nev Zealand pilots. He said that any direc action by P.S.A. member: would not affect the nex two, or possibly three, Con tinental flights to New Zea land. “We are concerned tha our members should be con suited, but we cannot di that in 24 hours,” said Mr d< Bres. “But by the thin flight we will have a ver clear picture of what oui members want.” Continental Airlines under chapter 11 of th< Federal Bankruptcy Act yesterday reported a third quarter loss of SUS 77.! million or $3.54 a share, ant blamed the deficit partly oi $25 million in reorganisatioi costs and uncollected debts.

The loss, which compared with a profit of $4.6 million last year, also included about $l6 million in interest expenses, a company spokesman said. Revenues fell to $312.5 million from $384.6 million.