Ansett spent a considerable amount of its time as an appendage to a wider business goal.
The BAE146 was not a great aircraft for AN. But for TNT in Europe it was the only solution. Abeles managed to shut out the opposition in the night freight game in Europe for several years by virtually owning the production line at Hatfield. Throwing a few leftovers to AN was a small price to pay in view of the bigger picture.
Same goes for ANI pulling out of TPE despite making money on the service. News was desperate to get Star TV into China but only if the company and its affiliates severed business ties with ROC.
AN was not the core business in its later years and suffered as a result.