KEY POINTS:
An Air New Zealand pilot who didn't want to stay at a hotel next to the United States Embassy in London in case of a terrorist bombing has been backed by the Employment Relations Authority.
Michael Alexander Talbot, of Papakura, flies Boeing 747 jumbos for Air New Zealand.
In November 2003 the airline decided to change its pilots' London hotel to one in Grosvenor Square, where the United States has its embassy.
Mr Talbot, fearing a terrorist attack on the embassy, refused to stay at the hotel. He booked himself in elsewhere at a hotel costing "slightly" more than £80 ($220.68) a night .
Air New Zealand had allowed any pilots who might "feel uncomfortable" at the hotel to choose another one and about 30 of its 180 pilots on the route opted to stay elsewhere.
But the airline later decided the pilots should no longer get a say in the decision and refused to pay for Mr Talbot's continuing costs in staying at his chosen hotel.
Mr Talbot asked the authority to make Air New Zealand pay his costs and said it had become a condition of his employment that he was allowed to stay where he wanted.
Air New Zealand said it had the right to take away the option to stay at alternative hotels. It said Mr Talbot's fears were not reasonable.
Air New Zealand also said the hotel had been assessed as having a low security threat and, with the heightened police presence at the embassy, the threat could in fact be lower than other areas of London.
But the authority ruled Air New Zealand's offer to pilots to choose alternative accommodation was open-ended and could not be revoked. It ruled the airline should reimburse Mr Talbot for the nights he stayed at his own expense.
It said Mr Talbot had some grounding for his fears. "Some US embassies have been bombed in recent years and the continued high level of security precautions at US embassies around the world suggests they are still being seen as being at risk of attack."
He could choose his own hotel.
In the event the issue has become hypothetical - Air New Zealand has again changed its hotel for 747 pilots to one Mr Talbot is happy with.
Boeing 777 pilots still have to stay near to the US Embassy.
- NZPA
