Air New Zealand, Finance, Outsourcing, India

Air New Zealand withdraws outsourcing plans

Staff were shocked when New Zealand’s flag carrier, Air New Zealand, announced it would not outsource finance jobs to India saying it would not meet their requirements.

The airlines had previously announced nearly a year ago that about 70 finance workers would face the axe, expecting to save about $NZ2 million by sending these jobs overseas.

The company which is 80.4% owned by the New Zealand government had originally hoped to move the jobs to Fiji but after the military coup in the country, it chose India as an alternative.

“We have now formed a view that India would not meet our requirements, so the outsourcing proposal has been withdrawn and this was communicated to staff earlier this week,” a statement from the airline said.

The back down comes after the airline announced earlier this month that it would not go ahead with plans to outsource the jobs of about 1,700 check-in staff and loading staff to save up to $NZ20 million.

The move was abandoned after a deal with unions allowed them to save costs by changing work conditions. Jill Ovens from the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) said the latest move was good news for many of the finance staff.

She said the decision not to push ahead with the outsourcing came because of difficulties in contracting work to other countries, and because of pressure on the airline from the government.

She added, staff "were relieved to hear their jobs were safe, but angry at the stress they had been put through for more than a year."