Origin Pacific cuts 93 jobs in shake-up

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

Origin Pacific has unveiled a pared-down structure after pulling back from the brink of financial collapse.

Ninety-three jobs have gone from the Nelson-based airline, with only 28 workers taking voluntary redundancy.

Creditors owed more than $12 million agreed last week to accept a deal that would keep the airline flying, after job cuts and restructuring.

It is now working out a new winter schedule, as it phases out its "hub and spoke" network, which fed off the Qantas flights to Christchurch and Wellington.

Origin will organise itself around what it calls "principally single-sector journeys with some networking opportunities".

Of staff laid off, 26 are in Christchurch, 19 in Nelson, eight in Auckland, seven in Wellington, four in Queenstown and one in Napier.

Flights to Rotorua will stop and services to Queenstown are reduced. There will be an extra flight to Auckland from Nelson, designed to connect with afternoon departures of big international airlines. There will be a new flight from Nelson to Hamilton while other services will be reduced, either in frequency, or through the use of smaller planes.

Managing director Robert Inglis said the airline was "extremely appreciative of the public support received in the past week with flight reservations continuing at close to normal levels".

Air New Zealand and Qantas have been blamed for contributing to Origin's problems.

In September last year Origin announced it would start flying between Hamilton and Christchurch. The same week Air New Zealand said it would start flying the route, leaving at exactly the same time each day, but with a much bigger aircraft.

Qantas said late last month it was "neither fair nor accurate" to link it with problems at Origin.

Its New Zealand regional manager Allan Williams said Qantas gave Origin Pacific more than the required 90 days' notice that it wanted to terminate their contract, and that Origin was aware of its "view that it could not continue to incur substantial losses".

Qantas' alliance plan with Air New Zealand had nothing to do with its decision to withdraw from the Origin deal, he said.

Commercial director for the House of Travel chain of travel agents, Tony Moffatt, confirmed that support for Origin had continued despite its financial troubles.

He said that it was impossible to get a seat on any Origin flight from Nelson last Friday - the same day creditors were being asked to sign up to the financial rescue package.