KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand has moved to defend the amount paid to Shanghai-based flight attendants.
The Weekend Herald revealed the crew based in China were paid a quarter of their New Zealand colleagues' pay - and also got about a third of the allowances.
When the Herald made its
first inquiries into the story last Thursday, a spokeswoman for the airline would only say that the story "includes a number of factual inaccuracies". She refused to clarify and explain what the "factual inaccuracies" were.
After the story was published, the airline sent a two-page rebuttal on Monday, but asked the Herald not to publish any of the information.
On Tuesday afternoon, thecompany sent out a media release repeating much of that information.
The statement, Air New Zealand said, clarified Shanghai cabin crew employment and was made "due to a number of erroneous and factually incorrect media items in recent days".
Meanwhile, in an internal memo to staff, chief executive Rob Fyfe said he found himself having to clarify a "poorly written, misleading and mischievous story". He added that it would be nice "if some of our media outlets shared our vision for being world class".
In its statement, Air NZ says: It was required by law to employ its 64 Shanghai-based staff through government agency Fasco (Foreign Aviation Service Corporation) and their salaries reflect local market relativities. Their employment terms, which it said were in line with other airlines operating out of Shanghai, including KLM, Northwest Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, had been negotiated with Fasco.
* Some of the Chinese air stewardesses who spoke to the Herald said they felt let down by the airline for putting them on Chinese employment terms because one was a New Zealand resident and others had New Zealand tertiary qualifications and had applied for the job in New Zealand.
Air NZ says: The "total employment cost" for a cabin crew member in Shanghai is about $46,000. This includes a base salary, allowances and benefits and, it is understood, includes the fee paid to Fasco.
In a separate internal memo, Air NZ CEO Rob Fyfe said the figure was "well in excess of $30,000".
The total employment cost of a New Zealand crew member is $58,000.
* The Herald reported the amount the Shanghai-based crew actually receive based on payslips of Shanghai flight attendants confirming their annual base pay to be $6240 and the flight rate at $4.30 per hour.
The airline refused to give a breakdown of the "total employment cost" citing commercial sensitivity.
The base salary received by New Zealand-based attendants is $24,000.
Air NZ says: The Shanghai crew were paid a daily allowance of $55 plus $120 per day in meal allowance when in Auckland.
* The meal allowance is tied to crew having their meals at either Dragon Boat restaurant or the Crowne Plaza Hotel. If they don't eat there, they don't get the money.
New Zealand and London based crew received $175 cash in the hand for every day they were away from home.
Air NZ says: Although the Shanghai-based crew were paid a lower base salary, they fly an average 72 per cent of the flying hours of an Auckland-based attendant, and worked only 14 days of a 28-day roster.
* A Chinese flight attendant said she had approached the airline for more flying time to get more money but was told she would have to consider different flight routes.
Air NZ says: In an internal memo the airline says staff in Shanghai had the highest engagement levels of any work group in the company.
* The Herald has a copy of a letter to Air NZ complaining about inequitable work conditions signed by 59 of the 64 Shanghai-based crew.
