DCH63,
Yes while Air NZ is going well now, lets not forget that not so long ago they were in as big or bigger hole than Qantas, required a Government bailout, and the Airline used the crisis to gain significant wage concessions from the staff!!
That said under Fyfe, they made some smart moves equipment and route wise from then on!
Were as Qantas have made some really dumb moves...............like completley pulling out of any International flights ex Perth!
Network is vital, and i would have thought the A330 could have been replaced with a QF738, to at least maintain a Qantas presence internationally ex Perth?
Ralph Norris made most of the changes that laid the foundations for Air NZ to grow and prosper. Sure, Fyfe was ok, didn't do too much damage and some interesting innovations were launched during his tenure as well.
And while it is not the only reason for the great returns at the moment, lets not forget that they have no serious competition to North America (Hawaii aside) for the first time in living memory. It's a lot easier to run Air NZ than QF.