A former Air New Zealand pilot will be paid $20,000 from the airline after the Employment Relations Authority (EPA) found the airline did not act in good faith after he was stood down for crashing a simulator.
Boeing 777 captain Peter Cross was stood down after failing a flight simulator assessment in March 2015, NZ Herald reports.
During the assessment, Mr Cross did not respond correctly to an autopilot failure at an altitude of approximately 70m.
Later that year, the Civil Aviation Authority did not renew his medical certificate, with a ruling from the Employment Relations Authority saying Mr Cross understood that non-renewal to be related to the assessment.
There was concern about Mr Cross’s performance under stress after he had been involved in four other incidents at Air New Zealand.
In 2014, on a flight to Auckland from Perth Mr Cross did not unlock the door to the flight deck to allow the first officer back into the cockpit.
That incident prompted a reference to a psychologist.
After the failed simulator assessment in 2015, Mr Cross went on sick leave and became ''un current '' as a 777 pilot, meaning he would need to go through training, proficiency testing and a valid medical assessment to regain his qualification.
He did regain a medical certificate but with a restriction which Air New Zealand could not accept.
Mr Cross was not returned to the payroll in 2017 as requested, with the airline saying the restrictions fell outside normal training and checking procedures.
Air New Zealand was not confident it could accurately simulate the pressure necessary for the assessment and said it would not be appropriate to test his response to stressful circumstances during an operational flight.
EPA member Eleanor Robinson said Mr Cross had been put in an unenviable position and that he did not contribute to the situation he found himself in and ordered the $20,000 payment.
'''Prior to 2015 there had been no issues affecting his performance. As such I find Air NZ as a fair and reasonable employer could be expected to do all it could to assist Mr Cross in the situation he found himself.''
Air New Zealand did not facilitate a recommendation that he have simulator training with the airline, a decision made on the basis it would be time-consuming and costly with no guarantee that he would be able to return to duties.
Ms Robinson determined that Air New Zealand not returning Cross to operational status as a pilot was justifiable.
''Consequently, there is no order that he be restored to the payroll.''
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