'HQ' just a transtasman toll call away

By DANIEL RIORDAN aviation writer

Air New Zealand's assurance to the Government that it will maintain its head office in New Zealand if Singapore Airlines is allowed to take a greater stake has the cynics chuckling. They reckon the company has effectively been run from Ansett's Melbourne headquarters since chief executive Gary Toomey took over the reins in January.

The head office stipulation has special relevance because Article 1.2 of the airline's constitution states that the head office shall not be changed from New Zealand without the consent of the Kiwi shareholder, the Crown.

It defines head office to be "the place of business of the company where central management and control is exercised."

So how does Air NZ stack up?

One former senior manager reckons that more than two-thirds of those who used to make up Air NZ's "head-office staff" are now based in Melbourne.

Others are in the process of shifting over but are said to be "as nervous as hell" as they await the Government's decision on the airline's future. Few will be buying houses in Melbourne until they know if the group will retain Ansett.

Of the 10 senior vice-presidents who report to Mr Toomey, five are based in Auckland: human-resources head Carolyn Tremaine; corporate, government and international affairs head Laurie Doolan; strategy and IT boss Kevin Turnbull; chief financial officer Adam Moroney and engineering head Bill Jacobson.

Most of the next tier of executives are in Melbourne.

With all the fires to put out at Ansett, Mr Toomey seems to have spent most of this year in Australia, and the major demand on his time here has been the need to negotiate with the Government over the Singapore deal.

Admittedly, Ansett is much the bigger of the two parts that make up the Air NZ group and its management needs would, in any case, be expected to outweigh Air NZ's.

However, former Air NZ staffers (and there are a lot of them floating around) say the group's major decisions are increasingly being made in Melbourne, and Air NZ risks losing touch with key markets such as the New Zealand tourism industry.

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