On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 11:50:43 GMT, (Miguel Cruz) wrote:

Max Burke wrote:
Some of the crew were prepared to work the flight, but it was Air NZ
management that sent them all home on an empty plane... Sending the
aircraft back to NZ empty would have cost Air NZ a lot more that just the
crew's wages they paid out...

Here's what I don't understand - wouldn't it have been cheaper to pay for a
parking spot for 14 hours and fly a new crew out? The traumatized crew could
head home on Qantas.

miguel

Fees are expensive period.
To have one aircraft go out of schedule creates havoc in the whole
system i.e. trickledown effect. Even a delay of a few hours starts a
chain reaction.

It's ok to say fly another crew in BUT then they have to have crew
rest before they can fly = another couple of days down the drain.

Don't forget airlines get fined for late takeoffs to boot.

Cath