Air crew won’t fly All Blacks

Press, 25 May 1985, Page 8

Air crew won’t fly All Blacks

PA Auckland Air New Zealand cabin attendants have voted not to carry members of the New Zealand Rugby Union Council or the All Blacks on any sector of the proposed tour of South Africa. The president of the Airline Stewards and Hostesses’ Union, Mr Brian Pugh, said last evening that an overwhelming majority of members had made the decision “for safety reasons only.” Ballot papers, he said, had been distributed by the union’s safety sub-commit-tee. “When we have 400 other people in an aircraft we have their safety to consider,” said Mr Pugh. He refused to discuss why the union felt carrying the Ail Black party would jeopardise safety. The chairman of the Rugby Union, Mr Ces Blazey, said last evening, “We have not made any travel arrangements, so it

(the union decision) cannot affect them.

“There is no particular route that must be taken or any particular airline that must be used,” said Mr Blazey. Air New Zealand’s public affairs manager, Mr Bob Wallace, said the situation was hypothetical. He declined to comment further. A spokesman for the SPIR-NZ (Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Individual), Mr Pat Hunt, denounced the cabin attendants’ decision as an abuse of Air New Zealand’s monopoly position and an attack on the rights.of New Zealanders. He said there was no justification for instituting the ban for safety reasons. It was particularly farcical he said, in view of the fact that the airline had carried the England team, many of whom had played in South Africa.