Air NZ asks managers to take over the drinks trolley

Air New Zealand has asked management staff to 'muck in' on Tasman and Pacific flights to cover for striking cabin staff next week. Photo / Brendon O'Hagan

Air New Zealand has asked management staff to "muck in" on Tasman and Pacific flights to cover for striking cabin staff next week.

With a four-day strike by 250 union members looming, the airline is turning to other staff to help out.

An internal memo reveals that although Air New Zealand expects to have 100 trained flight attendants available to work through the strike by employees of its Zeal subsidiary, it needs extra help to ensure "we can continue to deliver a great customer experience."

The memo from Tasman Pacific Airline general manager Glen Sowry says:

"If you are able to do more than one day, that would be great."

Volunteers are promised tickets for passenger seats on Air NZ's Airbus A320 fleet, but once seatbelt signs are off, they will assist with "handing out meals and drinks, etc".

The memo says Air NZ expects to be able to operate most scheduled A320 services, using three qualified cabin attendants on each flight.

The number of qualified attendants is one fewer than usual on A320s, but Air NZ says having three meets Civil Aviation Authority standards.

Mr Sowry said yesterday that all official cabin crew aboard the A320 flights were trained to at least the same standard as those going on strike.

An airline staff member who showed Mr Sowry's memo to the Weekend Herald questioned using untrained volunteers.

"If you are unlucky enough to get on an Airbus with ... a marketing guru or company lawyer who doesn't know ... if a door is armed or disarmed ... all I can say is God help all you passengers if there is an emergency."

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union secretary Andrew Little said he did not believe the move would pose any safety risk.

As long as the airline was not recruiting outsiders, it was within its rights in calling for volunteers.

Mr Little indicated there was still a chance of avoiding the strike.

Although the union had dropped a bid for pay parity between the Zeal attendants and other Air NZ cabin crew, it wanted a better deal than the 3.9 per cent wage rise and $350 one-off payment on offer.