Air NZ crew exempt isolation ?
 

There is no doubt the C19 results have been fantastic. While everyone had an opinion about some aspects dodging what the UK and US are experiencing is great and now down to single digit cases the future looks good.

However exempting airline crew is an obvious vector for new transmissions and as was the case with the Invercargill cluster where one AirNZ infected crew led to 98 infections and 2 deaths surely this is a high risk strategy?

If flying is down 95% there must be sufficient crew to allow 14 days isolation between flights ?

It also begs the question about cargo flight crew, transiting crew like the recent LATAM and Aerolineas flights heading to Shanghai from AKL presumably for PPE and what about cargo ship crew coming through ports?

if we loose what we have gained with 8 weeks of heavy restrictions it will be a high cost to pay, other views? :(

With the Bluff cluster it is conjecture, I haven't seen any official word on the index case or cases for that cluster.

Remember they are laying off a bunch of cabin crew, so they don't have enough crew to do that.

My understanding is with cargo particularly with China the crew is not getting off the plane (paxing the return crew (have seen tweets about them having to do their own food and drink)) else they will have to go into China quarantine. With LAX it does seem pilots at least are spending two nights before turning around. And after Vancouver issues guess the guidance is clear not to leave the hotel room, etc

Cargo ship generally they aren't getting off and only doing minimal contact for customs, quarantine. The loading and unloading is handled by longshoremen. Also the risk will be to the crew rather than the short crew as weeks at sea is good isolation.

I suspect now AirNZ crew will be doing a level of isolation at home and avoiding supermarket if they have others in household, etc.

Also have to remember health workers who are treating COVID-19 patients are allowed to go home as well.

the Bluff cluster was before lock down and enhanced practices introduced.

It was reported a couple of days ago the air crew situation was being reviewed by AirNZ and MoH.

Now screening aircrew (NZ Herald)
 

Air NZ's international air crew and airport staff will be tested for Covid-19 in an effort to minimise the possibility of importing the virus from overseas.

The announcement follows concerns that the border exemptions for air crew were a weakness that could open the door to an imported case of Covid-19.

Air crew have been exempt from the 14-day self-isolation and quarantine that have been imposed on all people coming into the country from overseas.

Yesterday Otago University epidemiologist Sir David Skegg repeated his concerns about the exemption to the Epidemic Response Committee, which he first raised three weeks ago.



Even if Covid-19 was eliminated, cases would still pop up occasionally, he said yesterday.

"They may be introduced by airline crew who are not required even to self-isolate. [The risk] was illustrated dramatically by a wedding in Bluff which has led to a cluster of 98 cases with two deaths so far."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there were no plans to quarantine aircrew for 14 days because that would create difficult work arrangements, but Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said that safety measures at the border were being reviewed "to make sure we are not importing any cases through that avenue".

This afternoon Air NZ released a statement saying they would test all international air crew and airport staff this week in conjunction with the Ministry of Health.
It is unclear if the testing would be trialled for a week or ongoing.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12327130

I am mildly surprised that there wouldn't be flight attendants willing to live in an isolated state while they work. I say that because I follow several flight attendants on social media, and all of them are obsessed with their jobs, and not just them, but their workmates seem obsessed with their jobs. It's a lifestyle. So if they did switch to isolating staff members, I would have thought they could find some willing to do it.

Are AirNZ's redundancies being done via seniority like the US?

So those groups might not overlap.

No idea. The flight attendants I all follow are mostly young. In the USA at least, it tends to be a very long term job, most flight attendants I follow have been flying no more than 5 years, which actually means they don't have much seniority. They are all willing to go to some extreme measures to keep their jobs, simply because they like the job and experience of flying so much. I was surprised, it's not a job I would enjoy, but flying is a very unique experience and I can see how that alone could bring a lot of job satisfaction.

from those I know, basically yes.

there are various contracts in play also...
a messy time

now unfortunately past tense for a lot of cabin crew (and pilots) 😢

There is no doubt Air Crew have been an anomaly in the border security for Covid. Most flight crew I know have been hanging out for testing at the border since late January. However, now after all the beat up by media, they have been told that they now are not allowed to
leave their hotel rooms on a layover, how ever many days, and they are to buy Uber Eats for every meal they need. No visits to a convenience store or supermarket for supplies.
This is absolutely over kill! Billing up meals on your credit card in an overseas currency is a cost that most people avoid , certainly flight crew on today’s fairly low wages, and whilst you are wondering if you have a job going forward anyway.

They get a stipend for meals while away.

Yes, but nowhere near enough to allow for Uber Eats charges, foreign exchange charges, plus commissions by banks.

"Difficult work arrangements?"
I don't get it. Isn't mostly everybody's life already difficult? If anything this is one of the easiest things to do.
And testing isn't 100%. Vietnam still quarantines people after testing negative.

I think it's normally around $50USD a day for American FAs which they usually saved a lot of money on. I am sure Air NZ gives out a similar amount. In usual times FAs often save quite a bit of their stipend, as a business you usually give your employees way more than they will need. With all of the Uber Eats, they will probably be spending close to their Stipend, but you can easily live off of $50 USD a day with Uber Eats. It's really not a big deal. The bigger deal is how mentally draining that would be.