Air New Zealand (NZ) has brought back former staff as borders open and gets ready to restart flights around the world. A spokesman for Air NZ told The Epoch Times that they had a total of around 720 rehires across cabin crew, pilots, and airports since March 1, 2020. “They’re really thrilled to be back,” Air NZ Chief Executive Greg Foran told Checkpoint. The airline had let go around 4,500 staff after COVID-19 restrictions caused the business to lose 95 percent of its revenue. “The great thing about it is we’re now seeing a recovery. It’s been almost 800 days since this began, and we’re excited about being able to get up and running,” Foran said. However, he said the airline would not yet be bringing back the “handful” unvaccinated pilots until there was a policy change, which was still under consideration. Air NZ made it mandatory for pilots, cabin …