Cabin crew help at check-in desk

The Auckland International Airport jet fuel crisis is having a ‘‘not insignificant’’ impact on airline crews and staff as days of disruption increase stress, a union says.

But the bigger issue for crew, some of who are volunteering their time or helping out in other areas, seems to be the ‘‘embarrassment’’ of telling people why their flights are cancelled.

A total of 41 flights have been axed since Sunday after a pipeline shut-down from a refinery in Northland, causing cancellations for up to 3000 Air New Zealand customers and disruption for a further 6000 people.

The airline had imposed a restriction on long-haul ticket sales late Tuesday, but lifted this yesterday, although some restrictions remained on some transTasman and Pacific Island services.

E tu¯ has more than 7000 aviation members including aircraft engineers, flight attendants, ground crew and aviation security workers. The union’s aviation spokesman, Kelvin Ellis, said the disruption was not insignificant for air crews, as some had faced changing duties, while others had turned up to work only to be told their flight was cancelled.

But he said many had been redeployed to the front line, including helping at check-in counters, and were doing a ‘‘fantastic job’’.

‘‘These sorts of things are pretty disruptive but the aviation industry is built on disruption.’’

Ellis said some union members had said they were embarrassed when having to explain the issue to customers, as they took pride in being the welcoming face for people to the country.

Disruption was frequent in the industry, but after three or four days it would become ‘‘quite stressful’’, Ellis said.

‘‘You do have to be concerned if it goes on too much longer; it doesn’t look good for the country. But they’re doing a pretty good job in pretty tough circumstances.’’

Labour economic development spokesman Stuart Nash said workers for foreign airlines were especially affected.

Rosters were changing and crews being turned away, he said.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the airline was working to manage the impact.

She said a number of staff had been volunteering their time, with more than 30 cabin crew who had flights cancelled or were off duty helping at airports in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch on Tuesday.

Pilots not rostered on had also helped by operating flights to Wellington to get fuel, or to supplement crews on long-haul services that needed refuelling stops.

Staff in Australia had also been helping, she said.

‘‘Cabin crew will continue to work in shifts throughout the coming days in support of their ground staff colleagues.

‘‘Cabin crew have also been helping our customer care team, which manages our communications to customers impacted by the disruption. And we’ve also had more than 120 off-duty contact centre staff volunteer to work extra hours since Sunday.’’