Air NZ wants suspended pilot named

Air New Zealand is unhappy about the suppression of the name and employer of an airline pilot fighting to keep his job after he was sacked amid allegations of alcohol and drug abuse.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suspended his licence in April after his employer alleged the abuse and a breach of strict rules on drinking before flying.

The pilot was summarily dismissed by the airline in May, after being suspended on full pay for almost a year.

He took a case to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), which has suppressed the pilot's identity and the name of the airline.

CAA said the man would remain suspended while it investigates whether he is a "fit and proper person" to fly passengers.

However, the ERA has ordered the pilot reinstated in a non-flying capacity pending a hearing to decide whether he was fired unjustifiably.

The suppression order was inappropriate as it brought into question the entire industry and all pilots, undermining those not involved in the case, said Air NZ general counsel John Blair today.

"As the largest airline in this country, the suppression order will unfairly have the effect of having people assume this issue involves Air New Zealand, which it does not," Mr Blair said.

"Air New Zealand would like to see the suppression order lifted immediately so that all airlines and pilots are not improperly implicated."

In January 2009, the airline investigated an incident of alcohol abuse. Three months later, it investigated allegations of both alcohol abuse and illegal drug use.

Both matters were settled without disciplinary action.

Police had also investigated allegations the pilot supplied an illegal substance to a female flight attendant who collapsed at a party at his home, but no charges were laid.

The woman was found to have the banned substance benzylpiperazine (BZP) in her system.

In a written determination this week, the ERA questioned how the airline had handled the dismissal, saying it "dredged up" old complaints against the pilot.

The pilot's ERA hearing is expected to take place in about five weeks.

- NZPA