'It's heartbreaking': Air New Zealand job cuts continue as hundreds more cabin crew made redundant

Air NZ is making hundreds of its remaining cabin crew members redundant as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. "It's heartbreaking. It's basically everyone with under 25 years of service, gone," one crew member who had just been told the news said. On top of the 385 staff who were given notice in September, Air NZ has confirmed it's ending a furlough arrangement it had in place with 550 cabin crew. Staff were given a timeline of when any changes would take place. Documents say that feedback from both unions and employers would be considered up until October 14 and that in the week of October 27, the airline would "notify impacted employees". Staff were informed as part of the consultation process that any crew who were employed after the Multi-Union Collective Agreement (MUCA) would be made compulsorily redundant, while those on older, pre-MUCA contracts would essentially be made redundant on a 'last on, first off' basis. The airline has confirmed that around 4000 employees have lost their roles since the start of COVID-19, a figure which includes the 550 international cabin crew on furlough. Air NZ's COO Carrie Hurihanganui said September's schedule reductions as a result of a decline in passenger demand on international routes, meant the airline had to look at reducing its number of employees. "Air New Zealand entered into consultation with the remaining international cabin crew around further reductions. Our international schedule remains largely limited by border restrictions and unfortunately there is not enough flying to provide sustainable rosters for the number of international cabin crew we have," Hurihanganui said. "That consultation has now completed and we have confirmed we will be going ahead with the reduction of around 385 full time equivalent roles."<br/>