Air NZ crew heads home alone after LA suicide

25.02.2004
By LOUISA CLEAVE

Thirteen Air New Zealand cabin crew members were flown home from the
United States without their passengers after witnessing a suicide on
their way to work.

Passengers booked on flight NZ3 from Los Angeles to Auckland on Sunday
were put on other Air New Zealand flights after the incident, said Ed
Sims, general manager international airline.

The crew was in a minibus on the way to LAX when a person jumped off
an overbridge and landed on their vehicle.

The person then fell on the highway into the path of traffic.

Mr Sims said the crew went to assist but the person was dead and they
were "faced with a horrific scene".

The highway was closed while emergency services removed the body and
the crew assisted before continuing to LAX, he said.

The pilots had travelled separately to the airport.

Air New Zealand said it was notified "within minutes" of the incident
and a chief medical officer liaised with the crew, their in-flight
service director and the airport manager.

Some staff were visibly shaken, said Mr Sims.

"Although some of them said they were okay to undertake their shift on
NZ3, it was possible delayed shock might set in. Therefore, the
airline was not prepared to put their wellbeing and customer service
delivery and safety at risk."

The decision was made to fly the Boeing 747-400 back to Auckland with
only the 13 crew and in-flight service director on board. An airline
spokesman said the cost of flying the aircraft home without passengers
would have been "up to $50,000".

Mr Sims said the passengers due to fly on NZ3 would have experienced
delays of up to four hours.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...ection=general

a b c <qwerty@poiuy.ty> wrote:

>Air NZ crew heads home alone after LA suicide
>
>25.02.2004
>By LOUISA CLEAVE
>
>Thirteen Air New Zealand cabin crew members were flown home from the
>United States without their passengers after witnessing a suicide on
>their way to work.
>
>Passengers booked on flight NZ3 from Los Angeles to Auckland on Sunday
>were put on other Air New Zealand flights after the incident, said Ed
>Sims, general manager international airline.
>
>The crew was in a minibus on the way to LAX when a person jumped off
>an overbridge and landed on their vehicle.
>
>The person then fell on the highway into the path of traffic.
>
>Mr Sims said the crew went to assist but the person was dead and they
>were "faced with a horrific scene".
>
Gee. What a precious lot. I guess they will need counseling on some
sunny beach for a month before they return to work.

Talk about a pampered group of workers.

All credit to Air New Zealand for their sensitivity to the crew's mental
well being.
I wonder how the delayed passengers felt or if it was explained to them at
al?

Either way, airline management deserve credit for putting the well being of
their
personnel above the monetary cost of bringing them home. It must have been
a logistical nightmare.

db

"a b c" <qwerty@poiuy.ty> wrote in message
news:6e8440lhrj0g3olum9t4cukgahors685n7@127.0.0.1. ..
> Air NZ crew heads home alone after LA suicide
>
> 25.02.2004
> By LOUISA CLEAVE
>
> Thirteen Air New Zealand cabin crew members were flown home from the
> United States without their passengers after witnessing a suicide on
> their way to work.
>
> Passengers booked on flight NZ3 from Los Angeles to Auckland on Sunday
> were put on other Air New Zealand flights after the incident, said Ed
> Sims, general manager international airline.
>
> The crew was in a minibus on the way to LAX when a person jumped off
> an overbridge and landed on their vehicle.
>
> The person then fell on the highway into the path of traffic.
>
> Mr Sims said the crew went to assist but the person was dead and they
> were "faced with a horrific scene".
>
> The highway was closed while emergency services removed the body and
> the crew assisted before continuing to LAX, he said.
>
> The pilots had travelled separately to the airport.
>
> Air New Zealand said it was notified "within minutes" of the incident
> and a chief medical officer liaised with the crew, their in-flight
> service director and the airport manager.
>
> Some staff were visibly shaken, said Mr Sims.
>
> "Although some of them said they were okay to undertake their shift on
> NZ3, it was possible delayed shock might set in. Therefore, the
> airline was not prepared to put their wellbeing and customer service
> delivery and safety at risk."
>
> The decision was made to fly the Boeing 747-400 back to Auckland with
> only the 13 crew and in-flight service director on board. An airline
> spokesman said the cost of flying the aircraft home without passengers
> would have been "up to $50,000".
>
> Mr Sims said the passengers due to fly on NZ3 would have experienced
> delays of up to four hours.
>
>
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...section=news&t
hesubsection=general

On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 08:57:47 +1300, Mutlley <mutley200@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Gee. What a precious lot. I guess they will need counseling on some
>sunny beach for a month before they return to work.

Put it the other way around.

If they had done nothing and continued as usual, can you see the scene
in the courtroom where one of the passengers disliked the service for
some reason and decided to sue? Bearing in mind they were flying out of
litigation central?

Wise move to spend $50k and avoid possibly much more.

Cheers Alan

in article kOr0c.51156$ah.24489@twister01.bloor.is.net.cable. rogers.com,
David Bailey at dbaile0567@rogers.com wrote on 2/29/04 4:18 PM:

> All credit to Air New Zealand for their sensitivity to the crew's mental
> well being.
> I wonder how the delayed passengers felt or if it was explained to them at
> al?
>

I, for one, would have been completely ticked. Sure, it sounds insensitive,
but crap happens. Do they cancel a flight if the pilot's dog dies? No? I
would think that would affect the pilot a lot more than some stranger while
you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

OTOH, I can understand a particular crew member objecting to taking the
flight because that specific person felt too traumatized to take on his/her
duties at the time. If the airline is going to have the laudable policy of
accommodating that, they should have enough redundancy at a major gateway
like LAX so that a 747-load isn't prejudiced as a result.

Alan <allorstarch@ozconnect.net> wrote:

>On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 08:57:47 +1300, Mutlley <mutley200@hotmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Gee. What a precious lot. I guess they will need counseling on some
>>sunny beach for a month before they return to work.
>
>Put it the other way around.
>
>If they had done nothing and continued as usual, can you see the scene
>in the courtroom where one of the passengers disliked the service for
>some reason and decided to sue? Bearing in mind they were flying out of
>litigation central?
>
>Wise move to spend $50k and avoid possibly much more.
>
>Cheers Alan

So what's new.??? In 1990 when I flew from LA to NZ via ANZ we were
one day late leaving. Boy did the cabin crew bitch that they were
going to lose a day Skiing. Needles to say the service was not shit
hot as it was on the way over ..Don't think anyone sued them..

"Mutlley" <mutley200@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:nog4401p1g8ldiuef33d10lldglg5hjh08@4ax.com...
> a b c <qwerty@poiuy.ty> wrote:
>
> >Air NZ crew heads home alone after LA suicide
> >
> >25.02.2004
> >By LOUISA CLEAVE
> >
> >Thirteen Air New Zealand cabin crew members were flown home from the
> >United States without their passengers after witnessing a suicide on
> >their way to work.
> >
> >Passengers booked on flight NZ3 from Los Angeles to Auckland on Sunday
> >were put on other Air New Zealand flights after the incident, said Ed
> >Sims, general manager international airline.
> >
> >The crew was in a minibus on the way to LAX when a person jumped off
> >an overbridge and landed on their vehicle.
> >
> >The person then fell on the highway into the path of traffic.
> >
> >Mr Sims said the crew went to assist but the person was dead and they
> >were "faced with a horrific scene".
> >
> Gee. What a precious lot. I guess they will need counseling on some
> sunny beach for a month before they return to work.
>
> Talk about a pampered group of workers.

Pampered ?? Really?

So you would return to work and just dismiss it as an unhappy event?
Wow - now that's impressive.

If you want to really consider workers having a lend of the system then
consider the many thousands of working days are lost each year by people
taking sickies due entirely to their overindulgence of alcohol - and having
someone else pay them for their day off.

John

David Bailey wrote:

> All credit to Air New Zealand for their sensitivity to the crew's mental
> well being.
> I wonder how the delayed passengers felt or if it was explained to them at
> al?
>
> Either way, airline management deserve credit for putting the well being
> of their
> personnel above the monetary cost of bringing them home.**It*must*have
> been a logistical nightmare.
>
> db

The safety of passengers could have also been at stake.....given how
distracted the cabin crew could/would have been.

Mutlley wrote:

> Gee.**What*a*precious*lot.**I*guess*they*will*need *counseling*on*some
> sunny beach for a month before they return to work.
>
> Talk about a pampered group of workers.

Not at all.

Had an emergency situation developed on their flight, a distracted cabin
crew could well have not noticed until too late - placing the safety of
everyone at risk.

A small chance....but at what point do you decide the risk isn't worth it?

Air NZ hasn't lost a plane for decades.

John Ewing wrote:

> Pampered ??**Really?
>
> So you would return to work and just dismiss it as an unhappy event?
> Wow - now that's impressive.

Mutley isn't known for being the sensitive type.