Thurs "Melbourne Age"
Ansett manager takes off to rejoin Qantas
By STATHI PAXINOS. .Thursday 24 January 2002
Ansett's new management team suffered a blow yesterday when one of its most senior managers, operations head Trevor Jensen, joined Qantas just days after being appointed to a new position.
This week Captain Jensen was appointed executive general manager for operations at the new Ansett, which is expected to start on February 1 after creditors' approval.
Captain Jensen, who was also part of management teams under News Ltd and Air New Zealand, left Qantas in 1996. He started there as a cadet pilot in 1967 and rose to be general manager of the Boeing 747 fleet.
He has been appointed Qantas's group general manager of business performance - operations and infrastructure, reporting to David Forsyth, executive general manager of aircraft operations.
Mr Forsyth said in an internal memo that Qantas was "delighted to welcome him back".
Captain Jensen will be replaced at Ansett by Mark Rindfleish, a 27-year veteran of Ansett who this week was appointed general manager of flight operations and chief pilot.
When Ansett collapsed, Captain Jensen stayed on secondment from Air New Zealand and most recently acted on contract as operations head during the airline's administration.
Captain Jensen told new Ansett chief executive James Hogan of his decision yesterday before a meeting of the proposed management team. Mr Hogan is believed to have been extremely disappointed. An Ansett statement released made no mention of Captain Jensen's tenure at the airline.
However, administrator Mark Mentha said he had been aware that Captain Jensen had been in talks with Qantas "for some time" and the airline had been prepared.
Mr Mentha said it was "just unfortunate that (Captain Jensen) changed his mind" after committing to the Tesna position. However, he said Qantas's lobbying of Captain Jensen was a vote of confidence in Ansett's controls and systems.
Captain Jensen was Air New Zealand's vice-president of operations when Ansett's Boeing 767 fleet was grounded last Easter.