An excellent and (IMO) well balanced article can be found
here. It reports dispassionately on both Air NZ's mistakes and Australian business and political factors contributing to Ansett's collapse.
Some quotes:
- The purchase by Air New Zealand was widely viewed as a mistake. [No kidding - and if I had been directly affected, no doubt I would never want to fly on Air NZ again. But reading on.]
- The Australian government then changed the rules...
- Competition from Qantas ..., top-heavy and substantially overpaid staff, an ageing fleet and grounding of the Boeing 767 fleet ... left Ansett seriously short of cash, losing $1.3 million a day.
- Singapore Airlines then reneged on its July offer to inject over $500 million into Air New Zealand and Ansett...
- Ansett's administrators soon admitted there was no evidence of any asset stripping.
References are provided in the article.