Meeting set to discuss saving jobs
Nelson Airport stakeholders will meet with Air New Zealand representatives next week to discuss the proposed move of the airline’s heavy maintenance facility out of Nelson.
On Tuesday, Nelson mayor Rachel Reese, Tasman mayor Tim King and Nelson Airport chairman Paul Steere sent a joint letter to Air
New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran, to request an opportunity to discuss the airline’s proposal to move heavy maintenance to Christchurch while retaining line maintenance in Nelson.
Reese said a meeting was scheduled to take place next week, giving stakeholders a chance to put forward possible solutions to allow the facility to stay in Nelson.
‘‘We need to understand how they’ve arrived at this decision for the regional maintenance facility, and we want to make sure if there are opportunities to influence that decision, we’re going to do what we can to make that happen,’’ Reese said.
‘‘There may be nothing we can do, but we definitely want to be able to have that conversation.’’
Reese said she was aware of the ‘‘extreme’’ financial pressure Air New Zealand was currently under, but if the facility closed there would be significant flow-on effect on businesses around the region.
Nelson MP Nick Smith asked for a response to the petition from Winston
Peters in Parliament on Thursday, on behalf of Minister for Regional Economic Development Shane Jones.
Peters said the minister was constrained from acting in that manner because any Government intervention had been ‘‘constrained, outlawed and prohibited by the structure the National Party set up in the ownership of Air New Zealand’’.
Smith said he was disappointed in the way the question had been handled, with the answer being ‘‘all bluster and abuse, rather than answering the very real questions for the Nelson community’’.
He said it was ‘‘nonsense’’ to suggest the Government’s $900 million loan to Air New Zealand could not be tagged to support facilities like the Nelson maintenance facility.
‘‘The ownership structure of Air New Zealand was established by the previous Labour Government in 2002 following the Ansett debacle.
‘‘It is true during National’s time
in office the Government
shareholding was reduced from 73 per cent down to 52 per cent. But that is immaterial to the current issues – it is still a majority shareholding.’’
Both Reece and Smith have thrown their support behind Willie Snowden’s petition, asking the Government to step in to save the facility.
Snowden said he was prompted to start the petition following some post-announcement conversations with employees at the hub.
‘‘I just got to know a few of the guys and when this was announced I checked in to see how they were going. They were talking about what action they could take rather than sitting around going ‘poor me’.
‘‘They’re the kind of people involved with sports clubs, surf lifesaving, volunteering – so it’s not just the economic side of things. Mind you, that needs all the help it can get too and doesn’t need anything else knocking it around.’’
Thirteen thousand people have signed the petition on Change.org since Sunday. Having exceeded the initial hopes for 10,000 signatures, Snowden hoped to reach 20,000 by the end of next week, when the time to challenge the proposal ended.
‘‘That would have a bit more clout.’’
For those likely to be affected by Air New Zealand’s impending decision, the effects of the decision on the region went beyond the maintenance hub itself, extending to local businesses and organisations.
‘‘We will have work to go to, but when we’re talking about a $10 million hit to the economy I don’t think the people of Nelson are aware of what moving this facility away really means,’’ one staff member said.
‘‘We’ve got around 10 guys who have new house builds that are going to have to call their companies up and cancel.
‘‘Out of the 100 staff – you’re probably looking at 200 kids in our schools and I know there’s 10 that would go from one school alone.’’
Air New Zealand external communications manager Anna Cross said the company was aware of the petition in regard to the proposal.
With the proposal currently subject to consultation, she was unable to comment, she said.
However, Cross maintained that ‘‘outside the main centres, Nelson is and will remain Air New Zealand’s largest regional presence.’’