February 2020 Newsletter
- John Roscoe
- Feb 17, 2020
- 8 min read
Welcome to 2020. This is the first Newsletter of the year and the Committee hope you all had an enjoyable festive season and were able to share this with your families and friends. We look forward to meeting with you at one of the events planned for this year.
LUNCH at MAUNGAKIEKIE GOLF CLUB
Summer is here at last and we have arranged a lunch in "Cafe 1909" at Maungakiekie Golf Club.
Date: Thursday 2nd April 2020
Where: “Café 1909” at Maungakiekie Golf Club, 5 Anita Avenue, Mt Roskill.
Time: Arrive at 11.30 am to socialise before lunch at 12.30 pm
Cost: The buffet meal is $28.00 per person and includes a bar tab operating from 11:30am. As you check in you will each receive 2 tickets to exchange for alcoholic and/or non alcoholic drinks, which will be paid for by your Club.
Bookings: Book online from our website (or mail a booking form included in the print version of the newsletter below). Partners are most welcome.
There is plenty of parking on site, but use the upper tier for easy access to the café facilities.

The café overlooks some of the most stunning views in Auckland across the course as far as the Waitakere Ranges and the Manukau Harbour Headland; all this within 15 minutes drive from Auckland CBD. Join us, enjoy this beautiful view and the company of your colleagues.
Buffet Menu
Breads
. A selection of multigrain wheat and rye bread rolls
. Olive oil and herbed baguette garlic bread
Salads
. Simple steamed vegetable salad with ginger sesame dressing
. Home style potato and egg salad with fresh chives and creamy honey mustard dressing
Mains
. Roasted chicken breast with creamy garlic sauce
. Roasted honey glazed ham carved from the bone to your plate
. Golden crust pan fried fish fillets
. Chinese sweet and sour pork
Roast vegetables
. Kumara
. Pumpkin (all served individually with garlic and herbs and salt and pepper seasoning)
Deserts
. Black Forest Gateau
. Vanilla Ice-cream
Tea and coffee included
If you wish to attend, please register online on our website or fill in a booking form (download the print version at the end of this newsletter).
NOTE: If you are in arrears with your subs you can add your overdue subscription to your lunch payment.
Reminder: Don't forget to wear your name badge. If you don't have one yet, see the purchase details on our website.
REPORT on the Christmas Luncheon at Remuera Club, 4 Dec 2019
Our Christmas lunch is the favourite event of our social calendar but numbers were slightly down this year with 155 members, partners and guests enjoyed the occasion. The caterers had done a great job of decorating the tables and created a truly festive atmosphere which was matched by the high quality and selection of food served at the buffet.
Similar to last year, the majority of members arrived early in order to socialise with their friends and get their table seating organised. At a function of this size it is always advisable to arrive early if you wish to get seated with a group, as late comers will discover they have to squeeze in wherever they can.

We were extremely fortunate this year to be able to welcome Bronwyn Groot as our guest speaker. Bronwyn is the Fraud Education Manager at the Commission For Financial Capability (CFFC).
Bronwyn has 20+ years in the banking industry, including seven working in Financial Crime & Security. She had lots of great stories which were relevant to many of the audience and most specifically spam emails aimed at separating you from your hard earned money!
She also touched on Investment Scams, Identity Theft, Door to Door Scams and Purchase of Merchandise scams. Her talk was so absorbing and topical that we had more people wanting to ask her questions at the end than we have seen for a long time; A sure sign that she had connected with the audience.
Fraud and scams pervade every aspect of our lives and CFFC have produced a booklet called ‘The little Black Book of Scams” which Bronwyn handed out to our members and which details every type of fraud you can think of, and what to do about it.
After Bronwyn’s address, we continued on to the ever popular door prizes; The First prize went to Mrs H Clark who won two air tickets to any Australian destination plus $300 spending money and Second prize went to Peter Burns who won two air tickets to any Domestic destination plus $300. The Air Tickets were all generously donated by Air New Zealand plus the added $300 spending money donated by your club.
The Third prize was a $300 gift voucher won by Max Wagstaff and finally12 bottles of wine were won by a variety of Members. Congratulations to all the prize winners; to all those who missed out – better luck next year.
An extra bonus - Bronwyn was unable to share some of her videos at the lunch, however here are some links to a few short videos that are entertaining and informative, and may remind you of some of the points she made.
Frans de Waal video - a study in fairness
CFFC made this 20 minute video called Fraud Hurts for the Fraud Film Festival which premiered in November 2019.
Banking Ombudsmans video 1 made for Fraud Awareness week
Banking Ombudsmans video 2 made for Fraud Awareness week
NOTICE of AGM
The AGM and Mid-Winter Lunch will be on Wednesday 17 June 2020 at the Remuera Club.
Full details and application form will be published in the newsletter closer to the date
Please add this important date to your calendars
NEW MEMBERS
We extend a warm welcome to the following new members who have recently joined us and we look forward to meeting up with them at our regular functions:
Anne Harvey who worked at Christchurch Airport 1986 – 2019
Danny Topia who worked in Engine Shop, Mangere 1966 – 2006
Pradip Singh who was Manager Cargo Sales – Pacific Islands 1990 – 2016
Kimball Gaitley who worked in Inflight Services 1988 – 2015
David Smith who worked in Flight Operations 1973 – 2019
Phillip Scanlan who worked in Engineering 1973 – 2001
Malcolm McAlpine who worked in Marketing at Smales Farm 2005 – 2015
Alastair Flett who worked inAirline Operations 1972 – 2016
Mike Hitchon who worked in Engineering Machine Shop 1975 – 2017
Jack Derbyshire who worked in Engineering 1976 – 2014
Neil McAllum who worked in Engineering Trim Shop 1985 – 2015
David Christopher who worked in Engineering 1973 – 2006
Ian Milne who worked at Auckland Line Maintenance 1972 – 2019
David Ashley who worked in the Bond Store 1976 - 1996
ALMONERS REPORT
John ROSCOE – Our Committee’s highly valued and experienced website expert has spent
a long time in hospital in recent times with challenging heart conditions. John was in hospital for a month over December, had triple bypass surgery on 23 December and is now
at home in recovery, for quite some time yet. Even so, John has continued his superbly
detailed supervision of our website and we all wish him a rapid return to good health.
Robert (Bob) McKENDRICK – Passed away in his sleep on 18 September 2019 after a
long struggle. Bob worked for Air New Zealand from 1976 to 2003 and retired from the
Engine Facilities Maintenance section.
Philip (Phil) John RAYNER – Phil passed away on Thursday 2nd January, aged 81 years,
at North Shore Hospital. A service to honour Phil was held on 10 January at Dil’s Funeral
Services, Albany.
Our condolences, deepest sympathy and very best wishes are extended to all family members – Brian Cudby, Almoner
COMPANY NEWS
Regular media releases are published online by Air New Zealand and you can access these from our website under the heading Links. Here are the headlines from some of the most recent Media releases but please visit our website to see more, and to keep up to date.
17 February 2020
Air New Zealand project diverts nearly 900 tonnes of inflight waste from landfill
Air New Zealand has diverted more than 890 tonnes of in-flight waste from landfill two years on from the launch of Project Green, its glass recycling and product use waste reduction initiative. This is equivalent to the weight of five 777-300 aircraft.
14 February 2020
Air New Zealand wants takahē to nest-flix and chill this Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day can be a lonely time for humans, but imagine being one of only 418 birds in the world when the day rolls around. As part of its ongoing partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC), Air New Zealand has shared a tongue-in-cheek social media post for Valentine's Day as part of a wider campaign to raise awareness about the plight of native birds.
4 February 2020
Air New Zealand charter flight to Wuhan lands in Hong Kong
The Air New Zealand aircraft operating the Government's repatriation flight from Wuhan has arrived in Hong Kong.
2 February 2020
Air New Zealand Shanghai suspension - Update One
Following today's announcement from the New Zealand Government on China travel restrictions, Air New Zealand will suspend its Auckland-Shanghai route with immediate effect until 29 March 2020.
2 February 2020
Air New Zealand check-in advice for international travellers
Air New Zealand is asking for customers departing New Zealand on its international services to allow additional time to complete check-in, as several countries have introduced new travel restrictions.
1 February 2020
Air New Zealand to suspend Auckland-Shanghai service
Air New Zealand will suspend its Auckland-Shanghai service from 9 February to 29 March 2020.
January 2020
31 January 2020
Air New Zealand update on Shanghai services
Air New Zealand is temporarily reducing its Shanghai operations as it prepares for a decline in demand for travel between New Zealand and China.
28 January 2020
One million Air New Zealand domestic fares go for under $50
Air New Zealand has sold more than one million domestic fares for under $50 since it overhauled its domestic pricing structure a year ago.
24 January 2020
Ice cream a firm favourite for Air New Zealand customers
With more long weekends on the horizon, many Kiwis will be enjoying an ice cream or two as they head to the beach, bach or barbecues.
23 January 2020
Air New Zealand using computer vision Artificial Intelligence (AI) for performance improvements
Air New Zealand is trialling the latest in computer vision artificial intelligence (AI) in its search for innovative ways to continually improve aircraft turn times and better on-time performance.
14 January 2020
Air New Zealand Chief People Officer resigns
Air New Zealand Chief People Officer Jodie King will be leaving Air New Zealand to take up a new role with Vodafone New Zealand.
10 January 2020
Air New Zealand inflight Wi-Fi hits major milestone
Air New Zealand has now offered more than one million free inflight Wi- Fi sessions to customers.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
We remind all members that subscriptions are due immediately after being set at the AGM in June each year. This year the subscription again remains at $10. Please forward your cheque to the Treasurer, Roley Rackley, payable to Air New Zealand Retired Staff Club (Northern) or credit it directly to the Club's bank account (12-3043-0231590-00 Reference "Subs" and your name).
Club newsletters, reunion lunches, special events and other member privileges are only available for financial members. If your subscription is current it will show " Paid to 2020" (or later if you have paid in advance).
Newsletters sent by post show your subscription status (paid to date) on the address label. If you now have access to an email account, please let us know your email address so we can email future newsletters and keep you informed of other special events or last minute changes. You can contact us from our website www.airnzretirees/contact.
If you received your newsletter by email, the message will include your subscription status at the time the email is sent.
Click here to download a print version of this newsletter (pdf format).