Could not agree more! James www.airlinesimulation.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grant McKenzie" <grantmckenzie@optushome.com.au> To: <Skyone@yahoogroups.com>; <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 7:32 PM Subject: Re: [Sky-1] Ansett jibe from NZ Prime Minister > 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." > > > > SkyOne--The Airline News Channel > To Post message: Skyone@yahoogroups.com > To Subscribe: Skyone-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > To Unsubscribe: Skyone-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > List owner: Skyone-owner@yahoogroups.com > Skyone URL: > http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Skyone > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >