Air New Zealand has announced the elimination of 200 full-time jobs, in conjunction with a capacity reduction, to save costs. Citing a slump in long haul travel due to the deepening global recession, the airline's CEO, Rob Fyfe (pictured at right), told Radio New Zealand that more job cuts may be necessary.Fyfe said, "I am not saying this is the end because I don't know where the end of this recession cycle is."
The 200 full-time jobs that are about to be eliminated will include 100 long haul cabin crew. Other work areas affected are recruitment, airline operations, and technical operations planning and management.
In a statement to the press, Fyfe said, "We have been working hard on a series of initiatives to minimise the need for redundancies. These include pilots taking leave without pay, giving staff on individual contracts the opportunity to work fewer hours, introducing part-time hours for cabin crew, not replacing non-safety sensitive roles, not renewing temporary contracts and a freeze on executive salaries.
"However, it has become clear that these measures will not fully address the excess staff levels we now have as a result of these capacity reductions, especially in the long haul business where capacity is being reduced by eight percent when compared with the last financial year."
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