From what I have been told AN started to go downhill when Eddington took over and Toomey finished it off.
Apparently the New Zealanders did not have a clue. Large numbers of AN people were paid out and either replaced by incompetents or not replaced at all.
The mess at Engineering and the groundings of the B767's was just the tip of the iceberg. AN were doing heavy maintenance on A320's for a Chinese carrier and sending their own A320's to Canada for heavy maintenance.
The show cause notice issued by CASA caused problems in the market place with some high yield passengers leaving AN for QF.
The NZ Reservation System was a heap of junk, the AN system one of the best with self serve check in units and a good DCS system. NZ decided they would replace both systems with Amadeus.
Rumour has it that IBM has purchased the Ansett System and are going to offer it to other airlines. Apparently some leading airlines are very interested !. Watch this space
I just find it hard to believe what ex President Toomey said. It just shows he did not have a clue. He was surrounded by incompetent people.
If Geoff Dixon had stayed at AN and Toomey was successful for the top job at QF I am sure the AN and QF outcome would have been different.