Qantas New Zealand, that is...
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Qantas NZ in receivership, 1100 jobs in jeopardy
21 April 2001
The lives of 1100 workers are in turmoil after Qantas New Zealand was placed in receivership early this
morning.
Flights on Qantas New Zealand stopped at 10.40pm last night and receiver Michael Stiassny told NZPA this morning
that franchisor Qantas Airways, in Australia, withdrew its name after receivers were appointed at 3.25am.
Shareholders in Tasman Pacific Airlines, the owner of Qantas New Zealand, said in a statement that they were
deeply disappointed the airline had been placed in receivership.
They blamed Wellington Airport for insisting on an immediate payment of two months' in landing fees for forcing the
receivership.
It is believed this amounts to about $600,000.
A Tasman Pacific spokesperson said the airline had battled difficult trading conditions in the past year as a result of
fuel price increases and the drop in the value of the New Zealand dollar.
"However, Qantas New Zealand has been steadily regaining market share and we were positive about the ongoing
viability of this airline," the spokesperson said.
"Over the past few weeks we have been investigating a range of options to keep the airline airborne, including
shareholders offering to inject more capital and negotiating agreements with suppliers."
But the spokesperson said notification yesterday by Wellington Airport that it was not prepared to allow consortium
planes to land from next Monday left it with no alternative but to advise its bankers.
"By insisting on immediate payment yesterday, Wellington Airport's action has made the receivership inevitable and
undermined the likelihood of payment for all suppliers.
"Under the consortium's proposed forward plan, all Qantas suppliers would have received payment in full had
Wellington Airport agreed."
Wellington Airport general manager of operations Graeme Ware refused to comment on Tasman Pacific's claims, but
said the company was "very sorry that what has happened has happened".
He said his staff would be working closely with Qantas New Zealand to ensure minimal disruptions to passengers.
Mr Stiassny said Qantas Airways would honour all tickets and they were working with Air New Zealand and Origin
Pacific to accommodate passengers on domestic routes.
"Tasman Pacific will not be flying again," he said.
"We are trying to establish what assets we have got and are looking at ways to realise them."
He said there was "not a lot of good news" for Qantas New Zealand staff.
"In insolvency we always try to sell it as a going concern ... here, we're looking at an asset sale. We won't be
needing the staff for the long term."
Qantas New Zealand has 1100 staff, including 140 pilots and 180 cabin crew.
Mr Stiassny said the preferential maximum due to workers was about $6000.
Receivers tried to contact the first shift staff before they started work this morning.
"I don't think it was a surprise to them at all," Mr Stiassny said.
"The company has been in some difficulty for some time and there have been a lot of rumours about."
Tasman Pacific bought the airline a year ago from Ansett.
Air New Zealand said this morning it would provide additional capacity, particularly on main trunk routes, to cope
with Qantas passengers.
It said tickets for travel on Qantas New Zealand would be accepted at face value.
Spokesman Cameron Hill said Air New Zealand would now look at how it could sustain an adequate level of air
transport services in New Zealand in the absence of the Tasman Pacific operation.
Qantas NZ pilots were among staff who were turned away when they arrived for work, the Air Line Pilots' Association
told NZPA.
Association president Keith Malloy said none of the approximately 140 affected pilots had yet been told officially the
airline had been placed in receivership.
Mr Malloy was scathing of the way Qantas NZ had handled it.
"The law should be changed to make sure that incompetent management are held accountable for these sorts of
things. They shouldn't be allowed to stuff around with good workers' jobs."
Some of the pilots were to meet today at Christchurch Airport to discuss the situation.</font>