Air New Zealand rehires 40 widebody crew made redundant in Covid cuts

Air New Zealand is rehiring 40 redundant cabin crew, with hopes more will be recalled as the airline adapts to the Covid-19 pandemic. An airline spokeswoman said widebody crew had been called back to accommodate changes to its international schedule, which included new layover protocols for North American flights. The recalled crew were starting off on fixed term contracts “due to the rapidly evolving Covid situation overseas”, the spokeswoman said. “We hope to continue to recall widebody cabin crew as our operation adapts to new border requirements.” It is understood the crew had been made redundant and left the airline in early December only to get a call recently asking if they would return. Air New Zealand also recently recalled 175 short haul cabin crew in preparation for planned Tasman and Cook Islands bubbles. It’s also hiring regional cabin crew on fixed term contracts in four centres. The flurry of recruitment comes less than nine months after the airline let go of more than 4000 staff as it downsized by a third in an effort to survive the Covid-19 pandemic.<br/>