KEY POINTS:
The agreement between Air New Zealand and airport service workers this week brings to the end a four-year programme of cost cutting and restructuring that will save the airline about $320 million a year.
This week's deal - which will mean job and wage cuts for some ground handling staff - is expected to save $100 million over 10 years.
Investors responded positively to the end of the industrial dispute sending shares up 7c to a three-year high of $2.45.
Chief executive Rob Fyfe said he was eyeing a new strategic plan and cost saving targets for the next financial year.
A meeting with the board this month would provide a clearer picture of what the targets need to be, he said.
But whatever new cost savings Air New Zealand makes in the coming year they won't be on the same scale as the past four years, he said.
The need for "radical surgery" had passed.
Fyfe said he was looking to staff to drive the future changes through the company's "test flight" scheme which offers cash bonuses to staff who can suggest changes which have a direct impact on the bottom line.
Air New Zealand embarked on its four-year restructuring programme at a time when the airline was still in a precarious financial position after the collapse of Ansett, Fyfe said.
At the time management was looking to cut about $245 million in costs.
The programme had exceeded those targets, planned at a time when fuel costs were cheaper, he said.
Over the period fuel costs had risen by about $600 million so the new savings would only offset that increase and limit the extent to which the airline passed on fuel costs to passengers.
