kangaroota I think you are telling half the story.
Air NZ only had the capacity to cherry pick east coast flying and the incumbents warned they would remove services from elsewhere. Government forced direct investment and Air NZ squandered an opportunity.
At least Kiwi business ineptitude didn't kill or poison any babies back then I suppose.
Doesn't matter now anyway.
Amusingly, on travels since Ansett's collapse, many have discovered what a nasty, parochial little group a percentage of NZ pilots can be.
Ansett was full of Kiwis. Many never admitted it amusingly.
Some of that parochial nastiness extended beyond the collapse as well. How many of those Kiwis working at Ansett were accepted in Air NZ's recruiting drive a year or so after? Yes. None.