Air Pacific and its Flight Attendants Bargaining Unit has today reached an agreement on a new five year union contract covering the airline’s 254 flight attendants.

Air Pacific said the new five year contract, which will be effective from the 1st of next month, will avoid redundancies, increase flight attendant base salaries and realign allowances and work rules to increase efficiency and productivity.

It has also been confirmed that flight attendants will now be eligible to earn a premium pay of 125 percent of their new base pay for any flying over 70 hours per month.

President of the Air Pacific Flight Attendants Bargaining Unit, Joe McGowan said preserving current jobs, increasing base pay and ensuring their ability to get premium pay, as well as preserving current contributions to key benefits and allowances such as healthcare insurance, layover per diem, hotel accommodation and home base transportation were all important priorities.

For the first time ever, Air Pacific will also offer all flight attendants disability pay coverage for up to one year of hospitalization or serious illness.

McGowan said they are pleased to secure all these items in the new contract.

He also said for the first time ever, they have also obtained guaranteed pay increases for the next five years.

Air Pacific Managing Director and CEO, Dave Pflieger said he is also pleased that the flight attendants will have the opportunity to share in any success they help create through a new profit sharing plan that was approved in principle by the board.   

Pflieger said this is all part of the cost cutting measures that the airline started last year to improve Air Pacific’s performance, revamp flight schedules and modernize its fleet.

He said to ensure that the airline remains competitive, the management, staff, outside vendors, suppliers and lessors were either asked to participate or they were replaced as part of the company’s turnaround plan.

Negotiations are still underway with the Fiji Airline Pilots Association.

We have contacted Air Pacific and asked the airline the level of costs that will be reduced after the signing of the new five year agreement with the flight attendants.

A response is expected soon.


Story by: Vijay Narayan