KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand has freed pilots to work for other airlines on fixed-term contracts in order to retain them.
Besides the contracts of one or two years, pilots are taking leave without pay, cutting back on hours or accepting pay cuts for flying smaller aircraft as the airline reduces long-haul flying.
An executive pay freeze was imposed, before such measures became the norm, around the middle of last year.
The airline announced 200 job cuts before Christmas and is desperately trying to avoid more.
Chief executive Rob Fyfe said he had a mixed message for the airline's 11,000 staff.
"We're going into a very tough period for the economy, it's close to a recessionary crisis but our business is in really good shape and we'll be doing everything we can to minimise the impact on this business and your job security. I'm giving those messages side by side."
Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off from airlines around the world in the past year.
Besides trying to avoid the human cost and the damage mass redundancies have done to Air New Zealand in the past, there is a sound business case for retaining staff who are hard to find in times of upturn in what is a volatile industry.
"It doesn't mean we can guarantee job security but I'm confident the impact in this business will be a lot less severe than in other airlines around the world," Fyfe says.
The 47-year-old believes his fairly lean and nimble airline is representative of the country.
"We will transition this in better shape than other New Zealand businesses. I actually think that's true of the New Zealand economy - we're not as exposed as some countries.
"I do think we'll weather this well and it's an opportunity for New Zealand to strengthen its relative competitive position."
Fyfe has been drafted into a group at this month's jobs summit that will work on ways of retaining workers in large companies.
"There will be job losses but we may be able to mitigate some of the worst effects. I do see a lot of people thinking like we're thinking.
"Let's not talk ourselves into despondency or self-doubt that exacerbates the situation."
The advice he's giving to Prime Minister John Key, who is also Tourism Minister, is don't pull back from promoting the country.
"We can strengthen our attractiveness in this market, the things that make New Zealand special is being able to get away from the turmoil in this world."
The airline carries around 13 million passengers a year, between eight and nine million on domestic routes, and is a key part of the national psyche, he says.
"If Air New Zealand can project a sense of self-belief - then that does rub off on people."
Airline staff needed to be positive and have a sense of fun.
"People are going to step on to the aircraft with worries but if they can step off feeling a little lighter of the experience then we'll all have a good night's sleep."
