Air N.Z. clears backlog, and counts costs

Press, 26 December 1984, Page 1

Air N.Z. clears backlog, and counts costs

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Air New Zealand will today start counting the cost — in dollars and to its image — of the strike which grounded its fleet for five days and disrupted the holiday plans of 70,000 travellers.

Although domestic services returned to normal within hours of the dispute’s settlement on Monday, many international travellers will continue to face delays for at least another day. Late last evening about 2000 passengers remained stranded in Australia, the Pacific Islands, Los Angeles, and London. They are not expected to reach their destinations before tomorrow. Seats are available on most domestic services scheduled for today, but international flights are still choked with the backlog of passengers delayed by the strike.

The airline yesterday gave priority to restoring its long-haul routes to Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Singapore, and to picking up hundreds of travellers marooned at Nandi and Pago Pago. This left no

aircraft for the Tasman routes. Four flights to and from Christchurch had to be cancelled — TE4I to Sydney, TE67 to Brisbane, TE42 from Sydney, and TES6 from Melbourne. Last evening, the airline used two Qantas charter flights to help clear passengers between Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney. A special T.A.A. Airbus flight was also arranged to provide a connecting service between Sydney and Brisbane. The worst backlog now is at Melbourne where about 400 passengers are waiting for a flight to Christchurch. A further 300 are still stranded in Sydney and Brisbane. According to an Air New Zealand spokesman, they will probably be picked up tomorrow. Flight TE66, scheduled to

arrive from Brisbane late tonight, will be the first Air New Zealand 747 to land at Christchurch for more than a week. Agreement between the company and the striking cabin crews was reached after a further series of meetings in Auckland on Monday. Yesterday, neither side was prepared to discuss in detail the terms of the settlement. The company’s chief executive, Mr Norman Geary, was not available for comment, and its public relations manager, Mr Bob Wallace, who sat through most of the negotiations, was away on leave. His assistant, Mr Vernon Mitchell, said he did not know all the terms of the settlement, and could not find out. “We had a proposal on the table on Sunday night

which, after a bit of give and take on both sides, was finally accepted on Monday,” he said. Mr Mitchell confirmed that the settlement included a reduction in the number of standby days from five to three. Asked if the company was satisfied with the settlement, Mr Mitchell replied, “I am not prepared to answer that.” Was the strike worth all the disruptions it caused? “Obviously we don’t think so; but the union struck and that was the reality of it,” he said. Mr Mitchell also declined to comment when asked if. the company was satisfied with the degree of support given by the Government.

Pressed further, he said: “They (the Government) called a meeting in the Beehive which lasted 19 hours, unfortunately without a conclusion.” Mr Mitchell conceded, that the public image of the’ airline had been damaged by the strike. “But we think our general standard is a superior one and that this will help restore the image,” he said. Both Mr Mitchell and the president of the Airline Stewards’ and Hostesses’ Union, Mr Peter Best, agreed that the deadlock was broken mainly through the intervention of the president of the Federation

of Labour, Mr Jim Knox. Mr Best said the union had achieved, by striking, a stablised roster system. “We' now have a chance of planning our lives,” he said. The company had finally agreed to draw up a 56-day roster, with a minimum of 21 days notice, instead of its original plan to have a 28day roster with no specified lead-in period. Mr Best said the union had also won a number of other issues involving the seniority of crews and the reduction of the stand-by periods. Asked if the union was 100 per cent happy with the settlement, Mr Best replied: “Let’s say 99.9 per cent. The system now is very good.” Mr Best said he was not

anticipating any further industrial problems with the company in the foreseeable future. “After this skirmish I hope we will be able to talk together from now on in a reasonable fashion,” he said. The union and the company have yet to negotiate an agreement on the crewing of the new Boeing 767 s that will be introduced from next September. The union will also seek a joint award to cover both international and domestic cabin crews. “We are no longer working for two separate companies — the merger took place more than six years ago,” said Mr Best. “We want one award with an increase in the domestic crews’ wages.”