Diary of Air New Zealand crisis

MAY 7: Air NZ chief executive Gary Toomey is confident that the airline - which owns Ansett Australia - will have between $600 million and $1 billion in cash by the end of the financial year to help revamp its fleet.

MAY 22: Suggestions that the airline might need Government financing as a "bailout" to stay in business are "simply false". Mr Toomey denies the airline group is talking to Richard Branson's discount carrier Virgin Blue (Australia) about "acquisition or mergers or anything like that".

MAY 23: Mr Toomey says the airline is not strapped for cash and has not sought money from the Govt, although he admits there has been debate within the company on this subject.

MAY 25: "I would think it would take a bit longer [than 12 months] before we see this company generating an adequate return on investment."

MAY 30: A press conference receives a business-as-usual message from Mr Toomey, who says: "Air New Zealand is not strapped for cash. It has more than adequate cash to meet its ordinary requirements."

He acknowledges that the company has given some consideration to approaching the Government for "transitional funding" to get around foreign equity constraints, but says this option has not been to the board.

JUNE 13: Mr Toomey rejects a Sydney Morning Herald report that Ansett will post a $500 million loss for the June year. He says losses will be "nowhere near the figure bandied about".

AUGUST 14: Mr Toomey tells a business audience in Auckland that Air NZ is reaching "the point of no return" as it awaits a decision from the Government on whether to let Singapore Airlines increase its stake.

AUGUST 27: Prime Minister Helen Clark says the Government "has no desire to be involved in the commercial affairs of Air New Zealand".

SEPTEMBER 4: Sir Richard Branson rejects Air NZ's $302 million offer for Virgin Blue and reveals that Ansett losing $A1.3 million a day.

SEPTEMBER 5: A Government spokesman describes the situation as "somewhat fluid. In those circumstances the Government is not in a position to make final decisions".

SEPTEMBER 6: Michael Cullen: "I think it's fair to say Air New Zealand's position is worse than anybody anticipated when we first started looking at it."

SEPTEMBER 9: "People are tearing their hair out. It's all gone pear-shaped," says one executive as he leaves a crisis Air NZ board meeting.

SEPTEMBER 10: "The proposal the Air New Zealand board and Singapore Airlines put to us at that time would not have solved the problem," says Helen Clark, referring to the airlines' joint scheme to boost Singapore Airlines' Air NZ stake to 49 per cent.

Buying Ansett was "a sound strategy" says Jim McCrae, former Air New Zealand managing director and architect of the Ansett deal.

SEPTEMBER 11: Air NZ acting chairman Jim Farmer looks ahead: "All the same issues are still there about our need to have an Australian presence to create a global presence.

"We're just now obviously going to have to start again."

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