Air New Zealand axes 200 full time jobs

NZPA Air New Zealand is cutting 200 full time jobs in a bid to save in excess of $NZ20 million ($A16.98 million) a year.

The majority of the redundancies would be achieved on a voluntary basis, said chief executive Rob Fyfe.

The airline is cutting up to 100 long haul cabin crew positions, six jobs in recruitment and seven jobs in airline operations.

Capacity in the airline's long haul business is being reduced by 8 percent compared last year.

About 68 jobs will go in technical operations.

Separate reorganisations are taking place in subsidiary businesses, including Safe Air in Blenheim, with a small number of redundancies expected.

Air NZ has been reducing capacity to match customer demand over the past few months as fewer people travel as economies slow.

"We have been working hard on a series of initiatives to minimise the need for redundancies.

"These include pilots taking leave without pay, giving staff on individual contracts the opportunity to work fewer hours, introducing part-time hours for cabin crew, not replacing non-safety sensitive roles, not renewing temporary contracts and a freeze on executive salaries," Mr Fyfe said.

But it was not enough.

"A hallmark of Air New Zealand's success over recent years has been our ability to be nimble, adapt our business to market conditions, contain costs and simultaneously invest in innovative products and services to better meet the needs of our customers.

"We will continue to be relentless in our drive to deliver an inspiring and uniquely Kiwi experience to our customers at everyday low prices," Mr Fyfe said.