Flight attendant values supermarket job
A former Air NZ flight attendant says she is grateful for her supermarket job after being made redundant by the airline.
Sarah Jones posted on social media about losing her airline job and becoming a Countdown warehouse shelver handling online orders the next day.
She then shared an email from Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran who said he hoped she would fly with the airline again soon. ’’Good on you for making a difference,’’ he wrote. ‘‘As you may know I spent 41 years being a shop keeper and an [sic] very familiar with the role. Hope we can get you back flying again with us real soon though. We miss you.’’
Jones commented: ‘‘What a good guy.’’ Air NZ has made 4000 of its 12,500 staff redundant, with further job losses possible. Other airlines, such as Virgin and Qantas, have also announced significant redundancies due to the impact of Covid-19 on travel.
Jones said she had emailed Foran before but had never met him.
‘‘I think he seems really cool, really focused on his company and the team, it is cool that you can reach out to the CEO of a company and he will happily respond. I think people would usually be scared to speak to someone so far up the chain from them but he is really approachable.’’
On Instagram, Jones said that after working for Air NZ for five years, facing the redundancy was ‘‘heavy’’.
‘‘Do you know what it feels like to lose your job over something that you didn’t do. I don’t know how to explain it but it is pretty lame. Just because I’ve been carrying it well, doesn’t mean it is not heavy. I’ve watched it fall apart around me for the last three months.’’
Air NZ has been asked for comment. Jones said she got the Countdown job within a week of applying for it at the end of lockdown level 4 and had been working with former airline peers.
‘‘I decided to work at Countdown because I knew it was going to be somewhere that needed lots of help during lockdown. Plus it was the only place that was actively hiring. There are quite a few here who had airport jobs and [Countdown] are very happy to have us.’’
Her TikTok has had more than 250,000 views since it was posted on Wednesday.
Jones said she did not expect her video to become popular but said there had been an overwhelmingly positive response, with many viewers sharing their support and best wishes.