Flights delay today

Press, 25 October 1984, Page 1

Flights delay today

PA Wellington All Air New Zealand flights through WeKngton today between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. have been cancelled because of a stop-work meeting by loading and cleaning staff. The airline has cancelled 34 flights that were due to arrive in Wellington from 8.30 a.m., and all departures between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. About 2000 passengers were affected, said the airline spokesman, Mr Jim WalThe flights are 22 scheduled Friendship and 12 Boeing 737 services. The Wellington disruption will affect three flights from Christchurch to Wellington this morning, cancelling two and delaying one, and forcing the cancellation of two flights from Wellington to Christchurch. Flight 418, which was to have left Christchurch for Wellington at 8.20 a.m. and flight 558, which would have left at 10.10 a.m., have both been cancelled. Flight 562, which would have left at 12 noon, has been delayed and will now leave at 12.35 p.m. Flight 559 from Wellington to Christchurch, which would have arrived at 12.15 p.m., has been cancelled, as has flight 411, which would have arrived at 10.20 a.m. An airline spokesman said that bookings on those flights had not been too heavy, and the airline had approached passengers and rebooked them either before or after the expected disruption. The national secretary of the Engineers’ Union, Mr Rex Jones, said that the stop-work meeting had been properly called and was to allow union executives to report back on negotiations with the airline on several issues. The issues included shift rosters, interpretation of work requirements, manning, and the provisions of the Air New Zealand redundancy agreement