By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer
Aviation analysts and Air New Zealand shareholders hope the national carrier makes a clean break with the past and a full accounting for losses when it reveals its annual result tomorrow.
Analysts are expecting a small operating profit - anywhere between just a few million and $20 million.
But any profit will look good compared with the airline's last annual result - the country's largest corporate loss of $1.4 billion.
The result will show how much of a turnaround Air New Zealand has achieved this year.
In April, the airline, while revealing a half-year loss of $376 million, made up mostly of a $350 million Ansett writedown, said it had "experienced significant improvements" in tourist traffic and a recovery in general passenger numbers.
This, coupled with cost-cutting, meant a much better trading performance than it had expected.
Air NZ said it should "comfortably exceed" its original forecast of a full-year loss of $63.4 million, before unusuals and tax, and predicted a result "closer to break-even".
Macquarie Equities senior analyst Arthur Lim said the market would be watching to see if all the abnormals stemming from the past year were properly accounted for.
He thought the company would use the opportunity to include all abnormals, giving it a fresh start.
"We've got a new managing director. The company is being steered in a future direction which says they want to leave the past well and truly behind.
"So I think that every opportunity will be taken to account for everything they can in respect of Ansett and the restructuring."
Meanwhile, airline chief executive Ralph Norris said yesterday that Bill Jacobson, senior vice-president operations and technical, had decided to return to the United States "for personal reasons" after two years with the company.
Former Airways head Craig Sinclair, who was to start on September 9 as chief information officer, will instead take Jacobson's job.
Air NZ shares fell 2c yesterday, finishing at 64c.
Analysts hope for signs of renewal at Air NZ
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