Cushing takes a step back

By CARROLL DU CHATEAU

At 11.15 yesterday morning Sir Selwyn Cushing sat in the eye of probably the biggest shakeup in New Zealand's aviation history, sipping on a cup of black coffee, sifting through the memos that had whizzed in and out of his fax minutes before, fighting to keep the gleam from his eyes.

When he woke up yesterday morning as chairman of both Air New Zealand and Brierley Investments, Sir Selwyn had a choice of two hot seats. But that was then.

Now, after an offer from Qantas to buy a slice of BIL's 30 per cent and Singapore Airlines' 25 per cent stake in Air New Zealand, he is obliged to abstain from the action.

Sir Selwyn burrowed in his outsized briefcase and handed me a typed statement advising that he is immediately stepping aside as chairman of Air New Zealand and BIL, pending the outcome of the proposal.

He will remain a director of both companies. And, no, he will not make any comment.

Instead, Sir Selwyn sits at the graceful walnut boardroom table on the 26th floor of the former Fay, Richwhite building, now NZI House in Queen St, obviously excited, enjoying the moment. For once the phones are silent.

"I really do enjoy the challenge of the Air New Zealand job, but the stress factor, considering it's such a high-profile company and affects the lives of so many people, is tremendous," he says.

At 64, possibly Sir Selwyn, in his blue shirt with its stylish wide, white collar, and blue and gold tie, is relieved to be stepping aside.

Until Gary Toomey took over as chief executive of Air New Zealand in January, Sir Selwyn ricocheted between Auckland and Ansett Australia's Melbourne head office four and five times weekly as the Air New Zealand subsidiary lurched from crisis to crisis.

He admits that over the past 12 months Air NZ especially was hit hard by "a huge fuel blowout" last year, "the airline wars" of the past few months and some genuine bad luck.

As to any criticism that he as chairman weakened our national carrier by buying Ansett Australia at too high a price, he is adamant. "Market conditions in Australia are highly competitive, there's excess capacity, and one cannot disregard the enormous feeder traffic from Ansett into the Air New Zealand transtasman and international network."

Since he took over, Air New Zealand has become the 20th largest airline in the world - and Sir Selwyn is proud of it. "We received the international accolade of 'best airline in the world' two or three months ago."

The former accountant carries the facts and figures in his head: 23,000 staff, 180 aircraft, eight million Air NZ passengers and 14 million with Ansett. "It [Air NZ] is our lifeline."

For the first time, Sir Selwyn allows himself a bit of a joke. "You can't really take the train to Australia."

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