Covid 19 coronavirus: Virgin attendant's tearful farewell on final NZ flight

A Kiwi flight attendant for Virgin Australia has made a heartfelt announcement over the PA on her final flight.

The Australian airline said it would be closing its New Zealand bases and cutting cross Tasman routes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the final Dunedin service, Cassey Appleton added a few of her own tearful words in response to "losing her wings."

Having bid her passengers welcome to the Otago airport she asked them for their patience while she made one extra announcement:

"There's every chance that this may be our last operating flight. It will be our last for the foreseeable future."

Today I lost my wings. Photo / Facebook, Cassey Appleton, Supplied

"It's a little bit surreal knowing we've come back down to earth one last time," she said.

Posting the recording of the announcement to Facebook, the Kiwi attendant shared that her job with the airways has enabled her to achieve so much. She said that her heart was "breaking" for her and the crew who had their wings clipped by the travel restrictions.

"I've achieved so much in this role, from travelling to buying a new car, from fixing my teeth to becoming debt free, from donating 4000 bras to Fijian women to living my most charitable years. Whilst I'm hurting for my loss I'm also counting my lucky stars to have been so blessed with this incredible opportunity."

Virgin Australia's New Zealand-based operations account for around 200 pilots and 300 cabin crew. The redundancies and redeployments are yet to be announced by the airline.

Air New Zealand has also announced a 95 per cent reduction of international flights during the national Covid-19 lockdown. In an email to loyalty members, Mike Todd the airline's Chief Marketing officer said it would be making drastic reductions to staff.

"As we face into the weeks ahead we are about to go through the painful process of reducing the size of our workforce by up to 30 percent."

Regretting the loss of the Air New Zealand staff Todd asked customers making hires to "keep an eye out for any applications from people who have worked at our airline."

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website