Staff suggest pay cut to keep Air NZ flying

By NAOMI LARKIN

Air New Zealand staff are offering to sacrifice pay in a bid to stave off disaster for the airline.

Staff spoken to by the Herald said they were prepared to sacrifice 10 per cent of their salary in exchange for shares in a bid to help the company.

"Basically we want to work together with whomever we can in order to keep our jobs," one staff member said.

The wages and salaries bill for Air NZ was about $700 million a year, so a 10 per cent pay cut would produce a $70 million saving which could be put towards a financial rescue package, the staff member said.

The high public support for the company and its employees was one of the reasons staff were able to cope.

"Morale is quite high in spite of of what's happened but we know we are fighting for survival here."

There had been no sign of job problems at Air New Zealand until Tuesday night when 48 flight crew trainees - some of whom were due to graduate that morning - were told there would be no work for them at the end of their courses.

The crew were trained as temporary staff to fill in holes in rosters and to "prop up" the permanent crew.

But they were told the schedules had been reviewed and they were not needed.

One woman who was to graduate on Tuesday told the Herald she had already received her roster with work for the next month.

It included eight international trips of between one and seven days a trip.

nzherald.co.nz/aviation

nzherald.co.nz/travel