Air NZ flight grounded after crew suspended

An Air New Zealand flight to Australia was grounded today after cabin crew members were suspended for donning wigs.

The incident is the latest in an ongoing pay dispute between the airline and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), which represents cabin crew members of Zeal, the company that supplies Air New Zealand with cabin crew for its A320 services on Pacific and trans-Tasman routes.

Air New Zealand said the crew due to operate on a flight from Christchurch to Sydney had been suspended, resulting in the cancellation of the flight.

An EPMU spokesman said four members had been suspended after they refused to remove wigs they were wearing.

Nine cabin crew were also suspended yesterday for wearing feather boas, wigs and stickers.

The EPMU today withdrew its notice of a four-day strike planned to start on April 8 .

Air New Zealand welcomed the withdrawal, calling the strike notice "futile".

Group general manager short haul airlines Bruce Parton said the EPMU decision came after being faced with an interim injunction filed by Zeal and due to be heard by the Employment Court at 10am tomorrow.

"Clearly, the EPMU has accepted that there is a more mature path to resolving this employment dispute," he said.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said the application for an injunction was on the grounds that one aspect of the strike notice was unclear.

The aspect related to the question of what constituted being "in New Zealand" while on flying duties, Mr Little said.

He said the strike notice was withdrawn following legal advice and a directions conference with the Employment Court, when the union negotiating team considered the strike notice was unlikely to survive the court action.

"With other litigation initiated by both the company and the union it was better to focus our legal resources on these other issues."

Mr Little said current notified industrial action, involving non-compliance with the company's "uniform police" and non-availability of staff for stand-by rosters, would continue indefinitely.

- NZPA