I don't see the government shareholding as state funding
Quite right. The government made an investment, they didn't give Air NZ a handout. If Inglis has any credibility left, he should be able to attract investment without too much difficulty. He may find it hard to find suckers like Pero though. Of course the constant bitter sniping will make many roll their eyes.
The truth is that Origin is unlikely to ever be anything other than a marginally profitable operation. That is a real pity, as NZ needs an airline like Origin, but the airline was started badly, squandered it's resources with profligate spending, and is now reaping what it sowed in the early days. Sad.