Covid 19 coronavirus: Air NZ details where cuts will be made

Air New Zealand has released more details of which crew it intends making redundant and plans to ground its Boeing 777s into next year.

The airline, which has claimed $72.3m in Government wage subsidies, has already announced plans to cut 1500 cabin crew jobs across its domestic and international operations. Details of nearly 1000 cabin crew jobs that will go from its international fleet were released to staff, according to Newshub.

The number of crew on the airline's mid to long-haul routes will fall from 1533 to 583.

Air NZ expects its Boeing 777s to remain grounded until April next year, so as a result it plans to cut its 777 staff completely.

The airline has 16 Boeing 777s in its fleet, many among the oldest and least efficient among its long haul planes.

The number of staff who work on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet will also be reduced. Service manager roles will reduce from 157 to 142, and flight attendant numbers will be cut from 514 to 443, Newshub reports.

"Based on our forecasted schedule over the next 12 months which includes significantly reduced international travel, we are proposing a reduction of 950 wide-body cabin crew roles," crew were told in a video.

Earlier this week the airline's chief revenue office Cam Wallace told a tourism webinar that Air New Zealand was down to a bare-bones, basic schedule.

"Our demand profile at the moment is at 1 per cent - we carry cargo and a very small number of essential workers."'

Revenue has plunged during the past two months to a point where the airline is targeting sales of $500 million, rather than $6 billion it had projected. It now faces drawing on a $900m bailout loan from the Government as it burns through cash.

Yesterday Wallace said total sales for the day were equivalent to just one Airbus A320 - about 170 seats.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

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