Air New Zealand faces further strike action by FARSA cabin crew

Air New Zealand has received formal notification of planned strike action next month from one of its cabin crew unions FARSA (Flight Attendants and Related Services Association). This move comes after the conclusion of bargaining by Air New Zealand last Thursday when the parties failed to reach agreement in negotiations.

The proposed industrial action involves a 24 hour strike on Wednesday 5th February followed by 48 hour strikes on the following days in February: Friday 7th & Saturday 8th, Monday 10th & Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th & Friday 14th.

Air New Zealand Senior Vice President Customer Services, Brendan Fitzgerald, said the airline is deeply disappointed at the FARSA decision to strike over rostering issues after the conclusion of bargaining.

" The proposed strike action by the majority of our international long haul cabin crew has the potential to disrupt thousands of passengers during what is a particularly busy time of the year for travel.

"During the last few months Air New Zealand has met with FARSA on a number of occasions and during this time the company has put forward several proposals in a sincere attempt to reach agreement. Regrettably, in spite of negotiations and mediation, FARSA continued to reject our offers, " said Mr Fitzgerald.

Air New Zealand's immediate focus is to assess the impact of the proposed strikes. The airline has begun contingency planning to establish the degree of disruption the strikes will cause to services and to find ways to minimise the impact on customers. Any changes to Air New Zealand's international schedule as a result of the strike action will be notified as soon as possible.

When previous discussions failed to resolve their outstanding concerns, members of FARSA employed by Air New Zealand undertook industrial action on two separate occasions last year involving two 14 hour strikes on 27 and 29 November.

The strike action affected Air New Zealand services to Australia, the Pacific Islands and Asia which resulted in the cancellation of some services and delays in the departure of some flights.