You have to understand how Inglis operates. He is a sufficiently charismatic figure to be able to get away with his autocratic style of management, convince investors, and so forth. However, he isn't a particular clever businessman. This is well known, and his record confirms it. He managed to persuade everybody that he had the ability to turn it around, and the creditors badly wanted to believe that he could. The investors were way too excited about getting involved in an airline to see the risks - particularly Pero, a failed Mt Cook F/O who just wanted to get back into aviation, and saw investing in Origin as possibly his only chance to do so. He probably expected to get some flying out of it too.
I don't know about the Lower Hutt investors, but Pero very quickly discovered the true nature of a business relationship with Inglis, and was out almost before he was in. He claimed that the business was in safe hands and on the right track, which it clearly wasn't - in other words, there was almost certainly a boardroom bust-up which Inglis won.
Pero is not a very clever businessman either. He may have made a lot of money out of his mortgage business, but that sort of success doesn't make you a clever businessman per se, it just means you got lucky. Some of the investments he has made since moving out of the mortgage business have been very odd.
Time will tell, as it always does, but I doubt that Inglis can get out of this one intact, and I am sure that Pero is just trying to protect his investment.
What NZ badly needs now, is someone to start a new third-level carrier with a sensible business plan and some experienced, innovative and skilled managers. There is definitely room for another carrier, but it has to be done properly from the start - no fancy buildings, correct choice of aircraft, a proper low-cost model, and enough money to get past the first two years.
Any takers?