Airline attempts to recover training costs for pilots who resigned

A New Zealand airline has been ordered to repay training bond costs to two of its former pilots after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled the bonds amounted to unlawful employment premiums under the Wages Protection Act 1983.

The ERA ruled that Qantas Airways subsidiary Jetconnect Limited also breached its collective agreement with the New Zealand Airline Pilots' Association (NZALPA) when it required pilots Mark Nicholas and Benjamin Rosser to sign bond agreements worth up to $37,000 as a condition of employment.

Both pilots already held a Boeing 737 type rating before joining Jetconnect, yet were required to repay a proportion of their initial training costs if they left within 36 months. Both resigned before that period elapsed to take up higher-paying roles at other airlines.

Jetconnect's training bond

Nicholas and Rosser had previously flown the B737 for Virgin Australia through its New Zealand employment entity before losing their jobs in April 2020, when Virgin Australia terminated its trans-Tasman services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both were later offered conditional employment by Jetconnect in 2022, on the basis that they signed a bond agreement and successfully completed the airline's mandatory initial training.

Jetconnect's initial program covered ground school, flight simulators, and line training. It argued the bonds were lawful because the training produced an "executable...

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