Hostess sex case pilot wins back job

Air Nelson plane. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

An Air Nelson pilot sacked for sleeping with a young flight attendant and drinking the night before a flight has this week won his job back.

The pilot was dismissed after an internal investigation found his actions amounted to serious misconduct after he had sex with a 19-year-old woman after a boozy session in May 2008.

The woman claimed she was too drunk for the sex to be consensual, though the pilot said she initiated the affair. Evidence from a third staff member confirmed the woman had acted in a provocative manner with both men.

The trio lay on a bed together while the woman asked to be spanked and showed her breasts. All three have permanent name suppression.

The pilot and the flight attendant were then left alone in the bed. The 19-year-old later said she could not remember what happened from midnight until she woke up in the bed.

Distressed, she phoned two friends and her father early the next morning, saying she thought they had had sex which was not consensual.

Police investigated her complaint but did not lay charges, and the woman laid a complaint of sexual harassment with Air Nelson.

The employment investigation also focused on whether the pilot had breached company alcohol policy.

At the Employment Court hearing last year, the flight attendant said she would never sleep with the man because he was married with children. She also had her period at the time.

At the hearing, the pilot's lawyer John Haigh, QC, said the Air Nelson investigation ignored aspects of the case which were favourable to his client. He said the trio had stopped drinking before 11.30pm, so did not breach the alcohol policy. Conflicting scientific reports could not prove binge drinking occurred.

Re-hiring the man would not tarnish the company's reputation, said Mr Haigh, and there were no other reasons he should not be reinstated.

Employment Court Judge Mark Perkins ruled the pilot should get his job back, overturning an Employment Relations Authority ruling.

He said John Hambleton, the general manager of Air Nelson, did not have an "open mind" on the matter. He said Mr Hambleton's conclusion that the flight attendant was sexually harassed was "not reasonable" on a number of grounds, including the facts she removed her tampon and clothes then climbed into bed naked.

"Such acts should have been a clear demonstration to Mr Hambleton of her premeditation to seduce [the pilot] into having sexual intercourse," said Judge Perkins.He also dismissed alcohol consumption as grounds for dismissal.

"After all, the behaviour then remaining for consideration by Mr Hambleton to justify dismissal on this ground would be immoral sexual conduct, nevertheless consensual in nature, between all three fellow employees and perhaps some minor errors of judgment by all three."

The court ordered he be reinstated and paid $10,000 compensation and $51,000 for lost wages.

Air Nelson and its parent company, Air New Zealand, said they were disappointed "that the Employment Court in its judgment sets a far lower standard of expectation on the behaviour and professional standards of pilots than the airline".

Mr Haigh said the Employment Court decision was the right one.

"This process has had a hugely negative impact on [the pilot]. He now has to rebuild his life and career, where he has held a high rank in the aviation community."

- Staff reporter