Employment: McAlister v. Air NZ

Discrimination on grounds of age can be applied to airline pilots, but employers must first make an effort to adjust scheduling to minimise the problem.

Issues of age discrimination reached the Supreme Court when Air New Zealand faced United States restrictions on pilots aged 60 or older flying into its airspace. These pilots could fly into the US as first officer, but not as pilot-in-command.

In response, Air NZ policy was to demote senior long-haul pilots to first officer, enabling them to continue flying the US route.

In a test case, Mr McAlister argued this policy was age discrimination in breach of the Employment Relations Act 2000. Human rights legislation does permit age discrimination, provided age is a genuine occupational qualification.

In this case, US-imposed rules did make age a genuine occupational qualification for long-haul pilots.

But first, Air NZ had to establish that it could not adjust its staff scheduling to accommodate affected pilots without first demoting them. The case was referred back to the Employment Court to deal with this issue.

McAlister v. Air NZ – Supreme Court (20.07.09)

10.09.002