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May 2022 Newsletter


Notice is hereby given that the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Air New Zealand Retired Staff Club (Northern) will be held at the Remuera Club (27-33 Ohinerau St, Remuera). Wednesday 15 June 2022. The bar opens at 11:30am and the AGM will commence at 12 noon followed by lunch at 12:30pm. Cost: $35 per person.

 

Report on EASTER LUNCH

Our Easter themed lunch on was attended by 47 guests at the Remuera Club. There were Easter table decorations including numbered Easter eggs for a raffle that included both bottles of wine and Easter themed items. Lunch was up to its usual good standard and, given the smaller than usual numbers attending, it was interesting to see that most of the six tables had a wide range of former staff from diverse areas of the airline that were mixing well together.

Just a few days prior to our lunch the Red Covid traffic light system moved to Orange and this meant we were able to ease requirements at the venue to the wearing of masks on entry, at check-in and then able to remove masks once seated at your table. In order to protect their staff Remuera Club required anyone ordering a drink from the bar to wear a mask. (Murray Robertson)


COMING EVENTS

MID-WINTER LUNCH and AGM

Date: 15 June 2022

Time: Bar will open from 11:30am, then AGM Meeting followed by lunch from 12:30pm.

Address: Remuera Club, 27-33 Ohinerau Street, Remuera

Cost: $35 per head for a sumptuous buffet meal.

Once again there will be spot prizes of quality wines and luxury chocolates.

Bookings: Bookings are now open - just click on the link below which will take you to the home page on our website with full details.

The Remuera Club asks that all guests wear a mask on arrival and at all times when not seated at their table.


SCULPTUREUM

Our committee is proposing a trip mid to late October this year, to the SCULPTUREUM near Matakana. We would provide bus transport with several pickup points en-route, and the trip would be approximately 5-6 hours in total, allowing time for bus travel, wandering around the Artwork, Sculptures and lunch. The walkways around the outside sculptures have plenty of resting places, and there is a cafe and restaurant on the site. Cost is estimated to be $50 for entry and bus trip, but lunch is at your own expense.

To assess if this is viable we would like an expression of interest from members as soon as possible,


CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Date: 7 December 2022

Time: Bar will open from 11:30am and lunch at 12 noon.

Address: Remuera Club, 27-33 Ohinerau Street, Remuera

Cost: To Be Advised

Bookings: Bookings are not yet open for this event.


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Margaret Nicholson - Margaret worked in Engineering from 1986 to 2011 and in 2013 she joined the Retired Staff Club, but later left New Zealand to live in Malaysia. Margaret has recently returned to New Zealand and has re-joined the club.


ALMONERS REPORT

Edward Barrie ROSS (Barrie) died on 17 April 2022 aged 87. Barrie was employed in 1964 as assistant financial manager TEAL, and rose to be Chief Accountant before retiring in 1993. He represented Air New Zealand on the Bank Settlement Plan of IATA and attended several meetings in Geneva & Montreal. Barrie and Alison (also an ex employee of TEAL and Air New Zealand) enjoyed over 20 years of international travel since his retirement. Barrie was a long time supporter of the Retirees club.

 

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

It is my pleasure to present this report and highlight the activities of your club over the past 12 months. The year has again been a most challenging one for reasons of both COVID lockdowns and the fact that your committee of only eight members has, at times, struggled to arrange several activities when the COVID situation allowed it.

We had three trips and the Christmas Lunch planned for the latter half of last year but, due to COVID lockdowns, the three trips (NZ Maritime Museum and sail on ‘Ted Ashby’ along with visits to Weta Workshops Unleashed and Stardome Observatory and Planetarium) were postponed several times and all were finally able to proceed in February and March this year. In addition, our very popular Christmas Lunch on 8 December was cancelled due to COVID lockdown. Our only casual get together was an Easter themed lunch at the Remuera Club on 6 April that was enjoyed by 47 guests.


Since the June 2021 AGM all committee meetings have been via ‘Zoom’ and this will likely continue for at least the next several months. Prior to Covid, we were able to meet in an Air New Zealand conference room in ‘The Hub’. With Air New Zealand recently announcing that all staff in ‘The Hub’ will progressively be moving to the airport through to 2024, we face the fact that this CBD facility will eventually no longer be available so, when we are able to meet in person it will be necessary to find a suitable alternative venue.


Our airline has had another extraordinary difficult year and it will be some considerable time before they are able to get back on their feet and into profitability. Almost all of the senior management that we had contact and a good relationship with are now gone and we are faced with the fact that the air travel prizes we were able to secure for our Christmas lunch raffle are no longer available.


Your club’s website continues to be improved providing access to recent newsletters, details of functions and trips, company news and other interesting items. Please make use of this excellent facility. In view of the limited opportunities your club has been able to offer over the last two years, your committee is unanimous in proposing that members’ annual subscription be waived for the 2022/2023 year.

Your committee has three members retiring at this year’s AGM being Katie Noble, Jackie Taylor and Stephen Hills. We thank them sincerely for their service and we also acknowledge and thank all the current Officers and Management committee members who worked extraordinarily hard to keep your club operating.

Murray Robertson, President

 

Your Club's constitution provides for up to 13 committee members, namely three officers (President, Secretary and Treasurer) plus up to 10 management committee members. Up until June 2021 your committee comprised 10 members (three officers plus seven management committee).


At the 2021 AGM, three committee members retired and one new member was elected leaving only eight members in total. Three committee members will retire at this year's AGM leaving only five committee members. Out of a club with nearly 500 members this is extremely disappointing. If this situation is not quickly resolved, your committee will, at its next meeting on 6 July, need to discuss whether to put the club into recess until such time as sufficient club members put themselves forward to join your depleted committee.

To this end, we seek to co-opt any member/s with good computer literacy skills, good organisational skills and the ability to work well in a committee environment. Your committee usually meets six times a year (mostly via Zoom). Included in our appeal for more committee members we also include those younger and/or recently retired staff that will be necessary in the mid to longer term to be able to take our club forward and, ideally, move it from strength to strength to secure its future.

If you wish to discuss this matter with a committee member please email brief details to:

Antoinette Nelson, Secretary - Antoinette@outlook.co.nz -or- Murray Robertson, President - m_robertson@xtra.co.nz


If you would like to volunteer, or nominate another member (with their permission) please fill in the nomination form BEFORE THURSDAY 9 JUNE.

 

41st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - AGENDA

THE PRESIDENT REQUESTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE FOLLOWING CLUB MEMBERS WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY DURING THE PAST YEAR AND ASKS ALL PRESENT TO STAND FOR ONE MINUTE'S SILENCE.

Helen BARLOW, Albert Bruce (Bruce) ELLIOTT, Jeffrey William GARRETT, Peter KILGOUR, William George (Bill) PARKINSON, Elizabeth Ruby RACKLEY, Barrie ROSS, Bruce John RUTHERFORD,

Jeanette Luison WEST.

  1. Apologies

  2. Minutes of 40th Annual General Meeting Proposed motion: "THAT THE MINUTES OF THE 40th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AS CIRCULATED, BE ACCEPTED AND APPROVED AS A TRUE AND CORRECT RECORD" Please read the 2021 AGM Minutes here

  3. Matters Arising from last year's AGM minutes

  4. President's Report - Please read the full report below

  5. Treasurer's Report - Please read online Proposed motion: "THAT THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022 AS CIRCULATED, BE ADOPTED."

  6. Annual Subscription Proposed motion: "THAT THE MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION FOR EXISTING MEMBERS BE WAIVED UNTIL JUNE 2023."

  7. Financial Review. Proposed Motion: "THAT BECAUSE ALL TRANSACTIONS AND BANK STATEMENTS ARE NOW REVIEWED EACH MONTH BY THE COMMITTEE, A SEPARATE REVIEWER IS NOT REQUIRED."

  8. Election of Committee. Officers: President, Treasurer, Secretary Other members: Up to 10 elected full members OPEN THE NOMINATION FORM

  9. Any Other Business

NOTE: You must register to attend and be a paid up member in order to vote at the AGM, but you are most welcome to bring a non-member guest.

Reminder: Don't forget to wear your name badge. If you don't have one yet, please order yours online

 

Do you remember these people?

Bob Jones - Cabin Crew. Every time the cabin lights went out he was delighted.

Mark Ashwell - Training instructor. When the training school installed new whiteboards he thought they were remarkable.

Tom Grey - worked in hydraulics. Unfortunately he developed an addiction to brake fluid, but he said he could stop whenever he wanted.

Geoff Walters - worked in NDT. Was performing crack detection on a wing spar and found an airline fracture.

Jane Jones - worked in Accounts but often fell over. She kept losing her balance.

Peter Wilson - mechanic in the Ground Support Garage. Asked the Tech library for a book on how to service an Automatic Gearbox but they only had a manual.

Jim Wilson (Peter's son) - was sent to the stores for a long weight. He was gone for three hours.

 

NAME BADGES

We encourage you to wear name badges at lunches and on any trips. It makes it so much easier when you know a face but can't quite remember the name that goes with it so please order yours now if you plan to attend any of the events coming up.

Please note that the password for the “Members Only” section on our website is still 'tasman’ . The information on the “members only” pages is confidential to current members and may not be reproduced or distributed.

Have Your Say - Have you noticed this section on the front page? Here you may add your own interesting airline related news, events, information, and history titbits.

ORDERS and BOOKINGS - Our preferred payment option is to Pay ONLINE using POLi - the same process as used by Government departments, Air New Zealand and many other companies. You don't need a bank card and the payment is made immediately. You can also print a receipt for your records.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

All existing paid up members will have their subscriptions extended to July 2023 with no payments due until then. Subject to confirmation at the AGM.


COMPANY NEWS

Regular media releases are published online by Air New Zealand and you can access these from our website under the heading Links.


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