Corporate name, not Air NZ, to change

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Air New Zealand chief executive Gary Toomey says he is not about to change the national carrier's name - but he would like a new corporate name for the combined Air NZ-Ansett group.

The company is looking at ways of harmonising the 80-odd sub-brands it has on both sides of the Tasman but Mr Toomey, in an exclusive interview with the Business Herald, says the Air NZ moniker is unlikely to go.

"We are looking at branding per se. I don't want to pre-empt what the experts are looking at, but my preferred position is the Air NZ and Ansett brands have tremendous value.

"I look at others who have changed brands and liveries and it hasn't turned out well.

"It's obvious to blind Freddy that the Air NZ brand in this country is extremely powerful. We have a dominant market share here and we want to retain that.

"I'm not proposing we change it to Pacific Airlines or whatever - that's something I've never considered as being very smart at all."

He said that in Australia the company was referred to as the Ansett-Air NZ group; here it was the other way around, and it made sense to come up with a new corporate identity, even if the tail fins of the aircraft stayed the same.

"We want to promote ourselves as the biggest Australasian airline, and we want seamlessness within the group.

"When you're in Australia, you go into the Golden Wing lounge. Here you go into the Koru lounge. Brands like Traveland, Air New Zealand Holidays, Ansett Holidays, Jetset - we're not capturing the value of the significance of the group, and that's what we're talking about."

Since Mr Toomey floated the name change idea, the Herald has received a number of suggestions for a new name.

Most of the e-mails were against the idea, agreeing that it was "not very smart at all." But some were in favour of a change, with the most popular suggestion for a new name being Anzac Airlines.

Anzett was another popular choice, but most of the other ideas favoured a more uniquely New Zealand name.

Some other suggestions: Air Kiwis, Tui Airlines, Sky Pacific, Godzone Airlines or even All Black Airlines.