One cabin crew member, who wishes to remain anonymous, says they are "absolutely devastated".
"Having seen first-hand the work done by our union members, and still having this result, is crushing. Air New Zealand values its staff less than its profit and shareholders, which so sad to see unfold," the crew member said.
"The company's process has been rushed, overbearing, heavy-handed, and uncompromising. I don't believe the feedback in the consultation process was ever truly evaluated or applied."
Air New Zealand says the process has not been rushed and full consultation was held. Up to 3500 jobs among 12,500 could be lost as Covid-19 grounds planes and has forced the airline to cut its international schedule by 95 per cent.
E tū assistant national secretary Rachel Mackintosh says many more workers are also devastated.
"It couldn't be much worse for some of Air New Zealand's loyal cabin crew," she said.
"Many are completely gutted – they have committed years to making Air New Zealand a world-class airline, only to be out of work with huge uncertainties about ongoing careers in their industry."
Mackintosh said E tū had been calling for a better process at Air New Zealand since the start of the crisis that could lead to the loss of jobs of around a third of the airline's staff. Already hundreds of pilots had been laid off.
"Air New Zealand employees need the company to be much more transparent, accommodating, and compassionate if they are to build their way back to being a strong national carrier.''
E tū wants Air New Zealand, other companies, and the Government to rebuild better – and make sure decent jobs were created and union members involved in all decisions.
The cabin crew member said the future for laid-off workers was uncertain, and expected they would "slip into the thousands and thousands of job applicants" and look at retraining for completely different work.
They say Air New Zealand needs to "re-establish the culture that they have kicked to the curb and re-establish the trust they have shattered".
Air New Zealand said the process had not been rushed and consultation had been very comprehensive and in good faith.
''We starting talking to staff and unions about these issues nine weeks ago and have done everything possible since then to collaborate and reduce the number of compulsory redundancies, including calling for voluntary exits, leave without pay, applying for the Government wage subsidy, and exploring redeployment and part-time options.''
A spokesman said the airline had worked with staff to establish a furlough scheme; however this was not supported by E tū.
''We will continue to work on a furlough option for our people, regardless.''
Staff had been able to seek clarity on all questions they had about the proposed changes to their employment, he said.
In addition to more than 700 meetings with managers, it had run 128 live streams for staff since March 16.
''Those leaving the business have all received a personal phone call from their manager and we also provided career transition assistance, financial planning information, and a range of wellbeing support tools,'' he said.
''We will continue to have constructive discussions with our staff and our four unions as we work to protect Air New Zealand's future and do our best to retain the 9000 jobs that remain."
