All hands to the pump at Air New Zealand

All hands to the pump at Air New Zealand

It’s all hands to the pump at Air New Zealand as staff step up to the challenges presented by fuel rationing at Auckland Airport.

While operations focused teams are fully engaged managing cancellations and rescheduling flights, many Air New Zealand employees are volunteering their time to support customers and their colleagues on the frontline during what continues to be a challenging time.

This morning more than 30 cabin crew who either had their flights cancelled or were off duty pitched in at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch Airports doing everything from helping at check-in through to cleaning aircraft in order get these ready for the next flight as quickly as possible. Cabin crew will continue to work in shifts throughout the coming days in support of their ground staff colleagues.

Cabin crew are also helping behind the scenes supporting the airline’s customer care team which manages communications to customers impacted by the disruption. Airport teams in Auckland and across the Tasman are also contributing to the massive communications effort required to contact customers and notify them of flight cancellations. More than 120 off duty contact centre staff have volunteered to work extra hours since Sunday to help with this communications effort.

A number of pilots have also volunteered their time to operate ferry flights to Wellington to uplift fuel or supplement crews on long-haul services that need to undertake refueling stops.

Air New Zealand Chief People Officer Jodie King says it is great to see the airline’s staff working so well together to try and deliver the best customer outcomes in a difficult situation.

“Our people have really stepped up and are doing their best to minimise the disruption to our customers, while at the same time trying to support their colleagues. It speaks volumes to both the spirit of our airline and the attitude of Kiwis,” Ms King says.

A number of flights have been cancelled since Sunday as a result of the fuel supply issue. Flight cancellations are being communicated to affected customers directly and are being updated on the Air New Zealand Travel Alerts page as information becomes available.

ENDS

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