Professor Fels you legend

[wot_tha]

With the recent events of the proposed merger of two well known airlines. Good to see yet again Professor Allan Fels true to form and standing up to the big boys in buisness to keep a little competition in the industry. I bet there is no one hated more in the boardrooms of some big industry, namely one massive airline company here in oz. He is like a niggly little prickle, no matter how hard you try, you cant get it out of your foot. However he has the effect of being a very large thorn in the side of big buisness keeping them honest. He will be a huge loss to the ACCC when he leaves but I bet the big boys are counting down the days to his retirement. Good onya Professor, your a legend.

[Whiskery]

Just like Singapore Airlines buying into Ansett - that "deal" was NEVER going to get to first base.

[*Lancer*]

Well let's hope for Air New Zealand's sake that they can stand alone without the investment of Qantas...

The lesser of two evils, would have seen Air NZ operate successfully in partnership with Qantas for the indefinate future.

[TIMMEEEE]

Wot_tha, it kind of makes me laugh a bit the way you make it look like a one-man stand against "the big boys" as you like to call them.

Mr Fels is just another public servant doing his job and the decision he makes is done after a team collects alot of info and then conducts numerous meetings and research.
Fels also has strict guidelines about how to conduct his business and just what is termed as non-competitive or not.
In this case he did his job (same with the NZ counterparts).
If that makes him a legend Wot_Tha then I reackon you need to check its definition.

Don Bradman, Alan Border, Sam Kekovich..........they are legends!!!

Apart from this the final decision has not been handed down and will be done so in approximately 60 days (+/-).

Qantas and Air NZ were well aware that this would be the decision and that some sacrifices will have to be made.
Mention of this is currently on this site.
Dont be surprised to see Freedom Air change hands or some such sweetener for VB to ply the Tasman.

Fels a legend...............................NOT!

[Whiskery]

Good post TIMMEEEE and you are correct. However you did omit a couple of legends.................

Stan Magro, Billy Picken, Tony Shaw, Nathan Buckley..................................................... ................

[Raider1]

Whickery what a strange post.
Had that deal gone through Australasia would now have had a much stronger commercial airline industry. And oh yes there would not have been 16,000 plus Australians unemployed

[FullScale]

Daicos..............................

[VeeBee]

I sometimes wonder just how big a market must be in order for a truly competitive situation to exist. By that I mean reasonable stability for those providing the service and competitive prices for the customers. I used to think that the U.S represented such a model but look at it now. I doubt that the Trans Tasman market is big enough to sustain dog eat dog competition without a continuous string of start ups and failures. The members of the "watchdogs" on either side of the Tasman have no real idea what the future will hold with or without the deal. If they did, they wouldnt be wasting their time on government Quangos guessing about the future, they would out there making a fortune.

[bitter balance]

The ACCC weakened a very fragile market with their decision. If that makes Prof Fels a legend, well great.

[invertedlandings]

Personally I think the post by wot tha is a windup- Professor Fels has had nothing but a personal vendetta against Qf since coming into the position just look at his pursuit of alledged QF dumping capacity on domestic routes to combat VB- went absolutely nowhere. Objective?? I don't think so. Legend?? Definitely not in the Australian sense- certainly not a Bradman et al. You would have thought that 2500 job redundencies from QF this year ( and 16000 in the region in the last 18 months) would have made the regulatory authorities( read:government) wake- up and doing something to protect our industry (see: US Government). By the way wot tha, are you related to Mr Fels?? Or is your last name Godfrey??

[Longhauler]

I recall reading somewhere that Mr Fels is not qualified as a Professor - the title is honorary. I cannot find anything to back this up right now so I stand to be corrected. But if it is true then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE call him Mr. I imagine that to academically achieve the title of Professor is not an easy task so lets not insult all those that are truly worthy of the title.

Secondly, in the name of recognition, here are the people who, along with their teams, have most likely done all the hard yards to arrive at any decision that Mr Fels proclaims in front of the camera:


Chief Executive Officer (Cbr)
Brian Cassidy
[phone]

Mergers and Asset Sales (Cbr, Syd & Mel)
General Manager
Mark Pearson
[phone]

Adjudication (Cbr)
General Manager
Tim Grimwade
[phone]

General Counsel
Robert Alexander
[phone]

Corporate Management (Cbr & Mel)
General Manager
Helen Lu
[phone]

Legal Group
Bruce Brown
[phone]
Regulatory Affairs Division (Mel)
Executive General Manager
Joe Dimasi
[phone]

Electricity Group (Cbr & Melb)
General Manager (Acting)
Sebastian Roberts
[phone]

Gas Group (Cbr & Syd)
General Manager (Acting)
Russell Phillips
[phone]


Transport and Prices Oversight (Mel)
General Manager
Margaret Arblaster
[phone]

Telecommunications Group (Mel)
General Manager
Michael Cosgrave
[phone]

Compliance Division (Cbr)
Executive General Manager
David Smith
[phone]

Enforcement and Coordination(Cbr)
General Manager
Lee Hollis
[phone]

Compliance Strategies Branch (Cbr)
General Manager
Robert Antich
[phone]

Small Business
Director
Nigel Ridgeway
[phone]

Media Liaison (Cbr)
Lin Enright
[phone]

General publication queries (Cbr)
Robert Booth
[phone]



LH

[lambeth1]

kiwi free ride

looks like the kiwi's will have to go it alone this time and they won't have the op to pull someone down with them.finally the free loaders will have to go it alone in the big bad world.

[Kwaj mate]

lambeth1 - you're an idiot

[Torres]

Longhauler, I don't think you are correct. There are no academic qualification for the title "professor", contrary to the title "doctor" which requires a doctorial degree.

And considering Prof Fels is shortly to take up an academic professorial appointment, one would assume he has distinctive and appropriate academic qualifications.

Regardless which way you look at it, cross equity participation in any form between QF and TE must be anti competitive, at least in the short term. Prof Fels draft report opposing QF equity in TE was inevitable. The draft report merely sets the scene for further negotiation. which may ultimately result in acceptance by both Australian and New Zealand consumer protection authorities to approve the merger.

[Longhauler]

Torres,

Tou·ché

Longhauler.


P.S. I don't necessarily disagree with you regarding the decision however Mr (sorry couldn't resist it) Fels stated on "Sunday" that he would consider any concessions that would prohibit QF/ANZ from re-entering the budget market if they offloaded Freedom Air. Is that not grossly anti-competitive?

LH

[bitter balance]

Torres, there is no surprise that the ACCC found the QF/ANZ deal to be anti-competitive. The surprise is the nature of the draft report. The report nearly unanimously denied every argument put forward by QF and ANZ that the deal was in the public interest. I believe QF were always expecting some horse-trading however this draft slammed the door pretty hard. Does the ACCC know more about the aviation industry than most?

[G.Khan]

Raider1

I think you will find that Whiskery doesn't actually like SIA very much.

[And I think, had SIA bought a substantial chunk if AN, there would have been a lot of lay-offs as it was considered at the time to be overstaffed or, so I hear from friends in SQ, - personally I haven't a clue].

[Torres]

Bitter Balance. You are correct, however some of the "justification" and arguements put by the airlines in the media were rather "plastic."

The harder the door appears to be slammed shut now in the draft decision, the more concessions the primary players are going to concede, before the proposed cross equity arrangement is finally approved. Stand by for some crocodile tears in Sydney and Auckland!

I'm sure the ACCC knows no more about commercial aspects of aviation than any other Government entity. That is not their task. Their mandate is to protect the populance against predatory or monopolistic practices - and be honest, both QF and TE have some fairly monopolistic routes!

I'm sure the QF/TE agreement will be approved in due course. But when it is, trans Tasman services will not be monopolistic, rather the route will be opened to other players, both domestic Australia and New Zealand and international operators.

My observations and opinions only. I don't hold any candles for or against QF, TE or the ACCC.

[lambeth1]

kiwi freeloader

kwaj mate: your a fool who should go back to the land of the long white collered rort

[Whiskery]

Fullscale - my apologies, Peter Daicos was indeed another player deserved of legend status.

GK - liking or disliking SQ had no bearing on the fact that Ansett was never going to be purchsed fully or in part by them.
History has shown, SQ was never interested in AN. When TESNA pulled out, SQ could have moved in on AN for a bargain basement price. Nothing happened - nothing was EVER going to happen !

Read all my past posts on the subject. I predicted from the very start to finish - SQ would never put one Singapore cent towards the purchase of AN and they never did.

Case closed.