High-altitude turbulence sparks employment dispute

Randall Wulff has won his case against Air New Zealand. Photo / Herald on Sunday

An Air New Zealand flight attendant has been reinstated to his job, after he was sacked for sitting down when the seatbelt light came on mid-flight.

Randall Wulff, who had worked for the airline for 14 years and was acting union president, was dismissed in November last year after the company said it could not rely on him to follow standard operating procedures, an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) report said.

Specifically, the company said Wulff had signalled an intention to take a seat and fasten his seatbelt when the seatbelt light came on, rather than carrying on with normal duties, and had followed through on one occasion - during a trip to Vancouver.

Wulff said he accepted that a blanket policy of sitting whenever the light came on was unacceptable, but said that cabin staff could take a seat if they felt unsafe.

He said he intended to convey only that he would sit down in this circumstance, and that on the two occasions he did sit down other staff had sat down as well.

He said any injury he suffered during turbulence would have a longer-term impact on his ability to take leave.

ERA member Yvonne Oldfield determined the airline "did not have a sufficiently firm foundation for its conclusion that Mr Wulff could not be relied upon", and ordered Air NZ to reinstate him.

"I accept that Mr Wulff's behaviour gave rise to legitimate concerns about his reliability, however I do not accept that it has been established that those concerns are incapable of being addressed in such a way that the employment relationship can continue."

Oldfield also ordered Air NZ compensate Wulff, a father of two, for loss of earnings from the date of the determination until the date he was reinstated, but declined compensation for hurt and humiliation.

She said Wulff had displayed poor judgment and a lack of insight, and had tended to trivialise the seriousness of the the company's underlying concerns.

Last night, Air New Zealand said it was appealing the decision but would not comment further.

Wulff said yesterday that he was fighting to save his integrity. The saga had been extremely stressful on him and his family.

"The vast majority of people would have given up by now because of stress, or economically," he said.

"I believed that truth and justice would prevail and it did and that's fantastic."

He believed he had been singled out because of his union position, and claimed the airline viewed him as a troublemaker. He said the dispute could have been prevented if the airline simply sat down with him at the start. He said he would relish the airline's appeal.

"I would rather die standing rather than live on my knees.

"You are always going to feel some anger that your word has been questioned, that your integrity is questioned - that is something that I have always held in high regard."

Wulff's barrister Paul Wicks said Wulff may challenge the authority not awarding compensation, especially for hurt and humiliation.

Wulff said he would have no problem returning to the job, even though the airline says it has lost trust and confidence in him. "I can live with myself and the truth, and the flight attendants on board that aircraft that day know the truth."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY, NZPA