Summary of the Collective Agreement

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There are several things that cabin crew members should know before reading the collective agreement. If the company has a proposition to change service in a way that affects duty times significantly, the two parties will seek to agree on terms and utilize the best means to create a mutually beneficial contract. Furthermore, the company shall not mandate or permit its crew members to operate an aircraft if a person suspects or knows they are experiencing or have high chances of facing fatigue, which may endanger the safety of occupants or the airplane. Finally, all employees covered by the agreement shall not perform the duties of a cabin crew member unless they have ensured that the limitations prescribed herein are not exceeded.

Selection of Inflight Service Managers

Applications for employees who want to become inflight service managers will be accepted from existing employees. Full-time flight attendants who have completed at least one year of continuous employment while working for Air Nelson, Air New Zealand, or Mt Cook before their application will be eligible for the promotion. However, if there is a shortage of suitable permanent flight attendants to fill the positions, both parties can agree that applicants from other departments can be considered for the promotion.

Rostering Committee

The first section explores the duties of the rostering committee, which comprises of union and the company representatives. It will ensure that work hours and rostering protocols provided in the agreement are followed and discuss any other issues that may arise from the roster. Furthermore, the rostering committee will review the roster operations to ensure they are optimized effectively for employees and the company. The second part states that the company will strive to roster every union representative a single administration day in each 28-day roster subject to the ability of the company to uphold operational integrity.

Flight and Duty Time Limitations

Cabin crew members that operate on the company’s services are subjected to the duty and flight times stipulated in this section. Cabin crew members shall not fly or do their duties and the company will not roster an employee to fly or work over the agreed flight and duty hours. The flight hours are 100 in a 28-day fixed schedule period and 1000 in 365 successive days. Between 16 December 2019 and 20 September 2020, there are 54 duty hours in a week. For the period between 21 September 2020 and 19 September 2021, there are 53 duty hours in a week. Nevertheless, from 20 September 2021 onwards, there are 52, 100, and 185 duty hours in 7, 100, and 185 days, respectively.

The company shall not roster cabin crew members for more than twenty-nine hours in any seventy-two successive hours. However, while working, the duty limitation can be extended to no more than 33 hours in any seventy-two consecutive hours. When crew members are away from their home stations, further extensions are allowed beyond the 33 hours and are entitled to $400 compensation when one hour is added to the duty limitation. When another hour is allowed beyond 34 work hours, crew members are entitled to another payment of $400. Furthermore, when the duty limitation exceeds 33 hours, crew members will be given a day off after completing their duty period, which can also be given after returning to the home station should it be unavailable away from the home base. To avoid doubt, the company cannot knowingly extend the work hours of a crew member beyond thirty-three hours in the home base.

International Duties

Regarding international duties, the company shall not roster a cabin crew member for a duty period that exceeds fourteen hours. A duty period that has already started can be extended for two hours beyond fourteen hours. Furthermore, the company shall not roster crew members to work on three international flights except during a positioning duty or mutual agreement. When crew members perform three operating duties in a period, they will be compensated with a sum similar to the callout allowance. Interestingly, cabin crew members cannot be rostered in international duties that exceed two.

Domestic Duties

Regarding domestic duties, crew members will not be scheduled for a duty period that exceeds eleven hours, which can be extended for an hour. After training day, crew members are not scheduled to work hours that go beyond 8.5 unless disrupted if the following day is a working day. Furthermore, the company will not schedule more than four operating domestic sectors in all duty periods. Nevertheless, the company can schedule five domestic operating sectors in all duty periods if one of the sectors is non-operating or positioning. In addition, when crew members are scheduled for domestic and international duties in one day, rules for the period with more hours will apply. For instance, if a crew member is scheduled for a duty period of 15 hours comprising of five hours of domestic duties and ten hours of international flying, then international duty limitations will be used.

Duty Period

The duty period is the work hours that crew members work in an aircraft. One hour is allocated before the flight and thirty minutes after the flight for international briefings and preparation. For domestic flights, 45 minutes is scheduled preflight and 15 minutes postflight for briefings. In the home base, the time a crew member spent getting to the place of work in the base before the start of the duty period.

Time Off at Home Base, Split Duty, and Disrupted Duties

A crew member is not needed to work a second duty on a day that has ended or after 0100 hours. If a disruption occurs, crew members can choose to undertake a tour of duty (TOD), provided contractual rest is achieved. In the split duty, the rest periods do not include the time needed for briefings and preparation. Rest periods less or equal to 3 hours can be done in a comfortable and quiet place. However, when rest times exceed three successive hours, beds are provided. When the duty period extends beyond 0100 hours, disruptions occur. When disruptions occur employees will be asked if they want to remain on duty. If they accept the disruption, they are compensated with $150. When international flights are delayed before a crew member leaves from a place of rest, a decision will be reached on a new reporting time, during which the crew employees are released.

Rest Periods

Rest periods accompany each duty period and they are usually over 12 successive hours. A rostered tour of duty that originates from New Zealand to Melbourne, Rarotonga, or Sydney will have rest periods of less than 12 hours. Additionally, a place of accommodation is provided and an allowance will be paid by the company. When a flight is disrupted away from the home base, rest periods may be reduced below twelve hours but not less than ten hours. It is important to note that rest periods are not classified as interrupted when crew control notify employees of schedule changes.

In extenuating circumstances where the larger part of the duty period happens between 2200 hours to 0500 hours in New Zealand the following day, the rest period that precedes the duty period will be at least twenty-four hours. Duties that have a planned time that exceeds 8.5 hours and where the larger part of the duty is done between 2200 hours and 0500 hours, crew members will be provided with 3 adjoining seats in the economy cabin’s last row. Regarding the tour of duty, crew members can be scheduled to work for up to five days.

Days off Duty

Regarding days off duty, the company will schedule crew members to a 48-hour day away from duty once every 156 successive hours. For single trips that exceed 108 hours, 48 hours rest will be given after and before the trip. Furthermore, during the live schedule, crew members have to achieve 144 successive hours and the rest of 36 hours. Cabin crew members can agree to work on days off that are rostered. In this situation, crew members are paid the applicable tour of duty allowance and an extra payment of $150 for each rostered day off. In addition, when crew members work on duty due to circumstances or disruptions beyond the company’s control, such working hours are classified as a rostered day off (RDO). As a result, they are eligible for the relevant RDO allowance. To avoid misunderstandings, all RDO hours start at 0100 hours.

Furthermore, the company has to ensure that when crew members achieve the 28-day day roster, they get at least seven days of no work. When employees request specific days free from duty, they will be granted whenever possible. Moreover, a day off should be provided before a rostered emergency procedures training. Still, the training day is not an additional day free of work. Every cabin crew member has the option of opting into a rostering regulation that restricts the number of successive early duties. When crew members opt-in, they will not be rostered for more than three successive duties that start before 0600 hours. The rostering rule, however, is not applicable to the airport or home standby duties.

Golden Days

Golden days off (GOF) are six days off in a calendar year that has more priority than requests for a normal day off and can be utilized consecutively or individually. The company will not approve golden days with the period between 24 December and 04 January. Golden days must be requested by the bidding system when it is open for future rosters. Additionally, they should be submitted before the roster closes. When a golden day is confirmed in the published roster, it cannot be changed. Furthermore, GOF takes priority over a day off and individual requests. For instance, if a crew member requests days off or TOD, golden days will be considered first.

Standby Duty

When a delay is notified to crew members, the new flight duty period will be established based on the duty period’s initial reporting time. In addition, if the delay length is known, the pilot in command may determine the new duty period. Standby duties can be restored to crew members at the airport, hotel, or home. They can be restored as a single day or part of a 4-day on-call line. Call lines are comprised of home standby duties and every on-call line will happen in four or five days. The company has a huge commitment to balance standby duties amongst crew members.

Crew members can only be allocated home standby duties for a maximum of five days unless extra standby duties are needed. Home standby will not exceed a successive period of eight hours and half of the time that is spent on home standby duties will be identified as duty time. Furthermore, home standby will not be considered as part of the rest period or duty period. Therefore, cabin crew will be contacted only during their standby duty. When crew members are at home, they must be contactable at every time and should report to the airport in 90 minutes after being called for work.

In positioning, a cabin crew can be needed to operate for a maximum of fourteen hours in a duty period. The accommodation is provided by the company in the arrival place at the end of a duty period. Regarding check-in with the home base, crew members should advise and contact crew control and their coworkers to inform them about their unavailability. The communication should be done three hours before the established reporting time for work. In instances where planned notification is not possible like a sudden illness, crew members must advise and contact crew control immediately regarding their absence.

Questions and Answers

How are new inflight service managers selected and who can apply to the position?

Only permanent flight attendants who have recently completed at least one year of continuous employment working for Air Nelson, Mt Cook, or Air New Zealand can apply for promotion to become inflight service managers.

What is the role of the rostering committee?

The rostering committee ensures that work hours and rostering protocols are adhered to. Furthermore, it reviews rostering operations to promote effective optimization for employees and the company.

What is the maximum number of hours that duty limitations can extend for and how cabin crew benefits from it?

The maximum number of hours allowed for duty limitations is 35 hours and it attracts a compensation of $800 since it is above 33 hours.

Explain how domestic duties differ from international duties.

The maximum number of hours that the company can schedule for cabin crew is 14 hours, which can be added to two hours in international duties. On the other hand, the maximum number of hours that the company can roster for cabin crew in domestic duties is 11 hours, to which one hour can be added.

Describe the allocation times for briefings and preparations for international and domestic duties.

The allocated times for briefings in domestic duties are 45 minutes before the flight and 30 minutes after the flight. In contrast, the allocated time for briefings and preparation in international duties is one hour before the flight and thirty minutes after the flight.

How many hours should a crew member be given as a rest period when the majority of the duty period happens between 2200 hours and 0500 hours?

At least twenty hours

How are cabin crew compensated when they agree to work during their rostered day off?

The cabin crew is compensated with $150 each rostered day off in addition to the applicable tour of duty allowance.

When are golden days not approved by the company?

Golden days are not approved between 24 December and 04 January.

How long should a crew member take to report to the airport after being called from home standby?

90 minutes.

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