Fired air traffic worker

A senior air traffic controller, sacked after quarrelling with a colleague as two planes circled overhead, has won her case for unjustified dismissal.

Pamela Adams was working in the control tower at Queenstown Airport when she became concerned about the distance between the aircraft, also known as separation.

According to an Employment Relations Authority ruling the aircraft - a twin-engine Air New Zealand plane carrying 60 passengers and a freight aircraft - were under colleague Mike Bishop's control.

The ruling says the argument, on March 2 last year, started when Adams shouted at Bishop: "What separation have you got?" Bishop claimed Adams added: "Don't tell me geographic - you've got none!"

After the argument Bishop arranged for another colleague to finish his shift and left.

The ruling said he was satisfied his instructions to the aircraft were safe.

Two investigations, one by the Civil Aviation Authority and the other by Airways Corporation, confirmed there was no risk to the planes.

Bishop later complained to his boss, saying Adams had an "angry and demeaning manner".

His complaint said during training he found her "at best passive-aggressive and at worst confrontational and bullying".

Adams was told the incident was being investigated and could lead to a formal warning or dismissal.

She told the investigation she could be blunt, but denied harassing or bullying other staff.

Another colleague, Lynda Millar, told the inquiry she had heard Adams speaking in a "nasty, sharp, aggressive tone" to Bishop.

Airways produced performance reviews from 2007 and 2008 claiming Adams had a communication style that was at times "implacable and uncompromising".

She was sacked by Airways Corporation for serious misconduct and awarded four weeks' salary but took her case to the Employment Relations Authority, claiming unjustified dismissal.

Adams argued her dismissal was unjustified given her 29 years' service to Airways, and said she found it extremely traumatic and humiliating.

The authority upheld the claim on the grounds Adams was not guilty of serious misconduct over the incident.

It awarded her $12,500 for the effects of the sacking and nine months' salary.

But the authority added she was partly to blame for her dismissal because of her style towards colleagues

Airways general manager David Rollo said yesterday the distance required between aircraft varied and he did not know the separation in this case.

He said the organisation stood by its dismissal of Adams.

anna.rushworth@hos.co.nz