Actually, I completely agree with her first sentence. Ansett was in trouble long before Air NZ bought it. However, to imply that Air NZ is totally blameless is ridiculous, their appalling mismanagement, shonky accounting practices and asset stripping certainly helped contribute to Ansetts demise. Frankly IMHO, the decision of Air NZ to buy the remaining 50% of Ansett and prevent SQ from doing so would have to be one of the stupidest corporate decisions I've ever seen, second only to the decision by the NZ government to spend NZ$1.1 billion of taxpayers money bailing Air NZ out. I'm glad I'm not a Kiwi taxpayer. Air NZ should have been left to go to the wall as market forces dictate. It's all a poorly run company deserves. Grant SYD QF RAY MARSH wrote: > >From the Australian Financial Review... > http://afr.com/ > > Furore over Clark's Ansett 'lemon' jibe > Mar 6 > Jane Boyle > > > The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Ms Helen Clark, who played a key > role in Ansett's collapse, yesterday labelled the airline a "lemon", > sparking fury from the airline's staff and unions. > > As Ansett employees wandered home from wakes after the airline was > grounded by administrators, Ms Clark said Ansett had been a headache > for Air New Zealand, which placed it in administration six months ago. > > Her inflammatory comments came as the ACTU said it hoped that sacked > Ansett staff would be paid about half the total $730 million owed in > entitlements within two months. > > The remarks stunned the industry, given the New Zealand Government has > been forced to pump NZ$885 million ($726 million) into Air New Zealand > to prevent it from collapsing under a mountain of debt. > > "I think Ansett was an airline with quite considerable problems which > Air New Zealand foolishly bought into lock, stock and barrel without > any due diligence in order to keep Singapore Airlines out," Ms Clark > said. > > > "Air New Zealand then, with pass-the-parcel, ended up with the > headache, and it got out and obviously the subsequent attempts to > revive Ansett haven't worked either." > > Union leaders were outraged at the comments. ACTU secretary Mr Greg > Combet retorted: "If it's a lemon, she's had to suck on it just like a > few other people." > > The ACTU is now considering suing Tesna for ditching its $3 billion > rescue plan for Ansett and has asked its lawyers to advise on legal > options. > > Australian Services Union branch secretary Ms Julie Bignell said Ms > Clark's comments were "offensive, insulting, poorly timed and dead > wrong". > > "Ansett failed because it was poorly managed and its management for > the most part was Air New Zealand," Ms Bignell said. > > Ms Clark's Government and the Australian Government have been key > targets for blame over Ansett's demise, after delaying approval of Air > New Zealand's plan to recapitalise the airline last year through a $1 > billion capital injection from Singapore Airlines. > > After Ansett collapsed, Ms Clark was party to a $150 million payment > by Air NZ to Ansett's administrators to avoid further legal action > against the NZ carrier. > > Ms Clark was again embroiled in controversy when she caused chaos in > the trading in Air NZ shares soon after Ansett was cast adrift by > advising investors to hold on to the shares, forcing a trading halt. > > She was subsequently forced to renationalise the carrier, diluting > minority shareholders (excluding Singapore Airlines and Brierley > Investments) to 7.6 per cent. > > After writing off Ansett's entire value last year, Air NZ is still > racking up losses and is expected to post a loss of about $100 million > for the December half on Thursday. > > Air NZ now faces a siege by Qantas Airways, which is eager to buy a > stake in Air NZ and has indicated that unless it is able to do so, it > will ramp up its NZ operations in competition with the NZ carrier. > > Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Mr Peter Beattie said yesterday that > while he was sad at Ansett's demise, his Government would now focus on > supporting Virgin Blue's expansion. > > "What we have to do is to make the best of where we are and that's why > we will be doing everything we can to encourage Virgin Blue to > expand," he said. > > Ansett's administrators have begun discussions with Virgin Blue, > Patrick Corporation, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways among other > potential buyers of Ansett's assets. > > The chief executive of Qantas, Mr Geoff Dixon, told staff in a memo > yesterday that Qantas would give preference to former Ansett workers > when recruiting. > > "We have already employed 600 Ansett workers. Another 400 are in the > process of being recruited into a variety of roles," he said. > > However, he warned that Qantas could not afford to slacken off > restructuring and cost cutting to make its cost base competitive with > Virgin Blue's, which is 30-40 per cent lower. > > He said the airline's international operations were still under > "extreme pressure" and Qantas had to fund a $7 billion fleet expansion > program over the next three years. "Meeting these commitments will be > a major challenge," he said. > > But he said Qantas's 85 per cent market share brought new > responsibilities. "We must not show any signs of arrogance and I would > ask that we all redouble our efforts to provide outstanding customer > service to all our customers."