10 November 2026
Auckland Airport has received a strike notice from E tū Union covering all 69 members of its Airport Emergency Services (AES) team. The notice is for the full withdrawal of labour for two 24-hour periods later this month:
- 6am Tuesday 24 November until 5.59am Wednesday 25 November,
- 6am Friday 27 November until 5.59am Saturday 28 November.
Auckland Airport is required to have qualified rescue and firefighting personnel in place at all times for flights to operate. With all members of its AES team covered by the strike notice, the notified strike action would leave the airport without the people required to maintain that service.
If the strike activity goes ahead as notified, flights may need to be cancelled or diverted during the two 24-hour periods, causing significant disruption to tens of thousands of travellers as well as the airlines, freight operations, exporters and businesses that rely on the airport.
Auckland Airport is working through contingency planning options to mitigate the disruption as much as possible. Travellers are encouraged to check with their airline for the latest information about their flights.
Our Airport Emergency Services team are valued members of Auckland Airport, and we remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement through constructive negotiation. We are encouraging E tū to continue working with us at the bargaining table so this disruption can be avoided.
ENDS