The Tesna syndicate's deal to buy Ansett has collapsed ABC radio reports.
Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox reportedly walked away from talks with administrators last night.
According to a report in the Herald Sun, final talks between the two parties failed to seal the $453 million sale of the airline to the Fox-Lew syndicate.
It came just hours after administrators secured the vital lease of the Sydney Airport terminal.
The newspaper said Mr Fox and Mr Lew were believed to have decided their business plan for a revived Ansett would not work.
A source confirmed administrators were in talks with the Fox-Lew syndicate until the early hours of today.
But he said they believed they had met all the requirements for the sale to go through by tomorrow's deadline.
The Sydney Airport lease was regarded as a major stumbling block to the sale of Ansett to Tesna.
The newspaper said the chances of the talks resuming between the two parties were now slim.
A 3AW reporter at Melbourne airport said Ansett flights were still leaving and arriving, and there had been no changes to the schedule.
Ansett staff were still issuing boarding passes.
Melbourne Airports corporate affairs manager Geoffrey Conaghan said they were still at the table and were still expecting the sale documents to be signed.
"But I also understand that we're only one of the players. There are a whole bunch of other parties that have documents and leases to be set up," he told ABC radio in Melbourne.
AAP
tinkybelle
Feb 26, 02, 3:24 pm
These people never looked like they would complete that deal!!
They just wanted their 10 minutes of fame!
Rudi
Feb 26, 02, 5:00 pm
wouldn't over 10 Million Australian $ of costs (costs accumulated by the Syndicats lawyers etc) be a little too much costs for just 10' of fame (I read that figure in more than one serious Australian paper on january-30 after the creditors reunion in Melbourne)
OzFlyer
Feb 26, 02, 7:07 pm
If I was the administrators I would be VERY VERY worried. They now may be liable for the losses of Ansett and the costs of the fallen down deal.
Also I now have to questions if Fox / Lew ever intended to go ahead and run an airline or if they just intended to play real estate agents. Sydney Airport did not give them total control over the airport and the sticking points was that Fox / Lew needed to continue to run an airline (this is what Fox / Lew were complaining about).
MillionMiles
Feb 26, 02, 7:37 pm
Agreed. Lew-Fox's intentions are questionable. Even if they signed a deal, I have doubts that they'll really do the right thing for AN as an airline.
Well, maybe this is the best and see who else will come forward to carry the AN flag.
And where's SQ? Surely there's something for them.
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 7:43 pm
SQ are too smart, and were when they had a look back in October, to get involved in this crap.
I think we'll see Lang buy/lease the terminals, and Virgin move into them (which would be a vast improvement for DJ for sure, and for the flying customers.. specially at CBR for one ! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ).
I can't see anyone else going near it.
In essence we'll have a larger DJ from AN terminals taking on QF.
------------------
RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 7:57 pm
All offers considered
February 27 2002
Ansett administrators will now approach unsuccessful bidders for the collapsed airline after Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew this morning pulled out of the deal to buy the company.
The Tesna syndicate pulled out of negotiations with the administrators to buy Ansett, 48 hours before tomorrow's midnight deadline, effectively sounding the death knell for any long-term revival of the airline.
Administrators Mark Korda and Mark Mentha, of Andersen, said today Mr Fox and Mr Lew had served a termination notice last night.
Mr Korda said Tesna had advised they could not meet tomorrow's deadline for the sale because of third-party issues.
"We are assessing the situation and, as foreshadowed at the creditors' meeting, will return to the unsuccessful bidders to pursue an alternative course," Mr Korda said in a statement.
He defended the administrators' decision to go with Tesna only, and reject other options, including a bid by transport company Patrick.
"The Tesna option was the only option at the time to keep the Ansett business in existence," he said.
"It was in the best interests of all creditors and the only option that would have provided benefits for all unsecured creditors and jobs for employees."
Mr Korda said in the event of a no-sale of Ansett, air services would be wound down in an orderly fashion.
He confirmed Ansett's inter-capital flights would continue until Monday night and refunds would be arranged for all passengers with bookings after Monday night.
Help will be provided for alternative flight arrangements with Qantas and Virgin Blue.
Mr Korda said they were surprised Tesna had pulled out.
"This was unexpected because Tesna had employed 20 new senior executives and offered jobs to about 3,000 employees," he said in the statement.
"It had announced a Global Rewards scheme and a Golden Wing plan. It had committed to new aircraft.
"Also the Sydney Airports Corporation Limited had advised that they had agreed to assign the Sydney terminal to Tesna.
"The administrators were ready, willing and able to complete the transaction."
Mr Korda said they had told creditors at the second meeting last month that there were risks involved in extending the deadline for one month, but had been confident the deal would go ahead.
"We had assurances from Tesna that they would meet the extended deadline and these assurances were repeated frequently,'' he said.
"We apologise to passengers and will inform the public of developments as they unfold."
Patrick Corp today said the offer it put on the table last year with the administrators of Ansett still stood.
Last November, Patrick Corp said it was working on a proposal to acquire some Ansett assets in a deal with Virgin Blue.
Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) today said the difficulty in securing the Sydney Airport lease agreement could not be blamed for the collapse of the sale of Ansett to Tesna.
SACL announced late yesterday it had formally offered Tesna a lease under the arrangements agreed to in principle on February 14.
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 8:09 pm
PM demands answers over deal failure
February 27 2002
Prime Minister John Howard today demanded a full explanation of why the Tesna syndicate withdrew its bid to buy Ansett.
Mr Howard said he was disappointed and felt sorry for Ansett employees who had hoped to get back their jobs with the collapsed airline.
The prime minister called for Ansett administrators and the Tesna syndicate to fully explain why the sale deal collapsed.
"My first thoughts are with the workers," Mr Howard told reporters in Adelaide.
"I feel very sorry for them, and it's particularly heartbreaking that it has happened right on the eve of this thing getting off the ground.
"I feel for the workers more than anything else and I'm very disappointed it has happened right at the end, out of the blue.
"People should explain and I think the workers are entitled to know, to have a full explanation as to why this decision has been taken.
"If it is a commercial one - which I gather it is - then fair enough, they should explain why.
"Seeing as all along people spoke positively and optimistically, it is very disappointing to the workers.
"The administrators should say something. Mr (Lindsay) Fox and Mr (Solomon) Lew should have something to say ... I'm not being critical, I'm just making the observation that the employees are entitled to know."
Mr Howard said the government was not to blame for the deal's collapse.
"I really do say to the Ansett employees, who were hoping to get, some of them, their jobs back, that the government's guarantee in relation to their entitlements which I gave on the 14th of September last year, that guarantee holds good," he said.
"It's not the government's fault that the Tesna thing has fallen over.
"I think everybody knows this was run very much by the administrators and the ACTU and Mr Fox and Mr Lew - on occasions the government was a bit left out of the loop but so be it.
"I'm sorry that this has occurred.
"I hope that the administrator immediately looks at the alternative bid, I hope the administrator doesn't look at liquidation."
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 8:32 pm
Administrators desperate after Tesna deal fails
Ansett's administrators will speak to other parties about the possibility of buying the airline or its assets following the Tesna consortium's decision to pull out of the deal.
The exit of the Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew-backed Tesna consortium, leaves Ansett's administrators back at square one.
The administrators say they will let the dust settle over the next few days, then revisit the question of Ansett's future.
They have confirmed they will speak to Virgin Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Lang Corporation and any other interested parties, to determine if Ansett or its assets could still be sold.
But they concede the airline will not be back in the air on the same scale as Tesna had planned.
Opposition
The federal Shadow Transport Minister Martin Ferguson has urged the Government to give Ansett workers their full entitlements.
He has also raised concerns about the consequences for the airline, now the Fox/Lew bid has failed.
"If Ansett is out of it, we've got Qantas out there with Virgin, the issue is now for the administrators to explore whether Virgin can pick up some of the Ansett operation, or alternatively we shouldn't forget that Corrigan of Patricks was in there a few weeks ago...who knows what their true interests are," he said.
Blame
Questions are being raised as to who is to blame.
Unions are refusing to accept the deal between the Tesna consortium and Ansett administrators was too difficult to close.
The ACTU's Greg Combet insists most major sticking points had been resolved.
"It's a tragedy for the staff that the sale hasn't been able to be completed," he said.
The Sydney Airport Corporation's Peter Gibbs says the corporation is not one of the third parties Tesna has blamed for holding up the deal, saying it finalised its lease arrangements in time.
"Any criticism that anybody would like to throw at the corporation, I really think is quite unfair," he said.
Meanwhile, chief executive of rival Qantas, Geoff Dixon, insists there is no joy in Ansett's collapse.
"There was a lot of good will and people trying to get it up, this is really about jobs now, it's not about competitive airlines," he said.
Bracks
The Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks says Tesna's decision to pull out of negotiations is a huge disappointment.
Mr Bracks maintains his Government only ever offered the Fox Lew consortium payroll tax rebates to base Ansett in Victoria.
He says he spoke this morning to Mr Lew, who told him the deal could have succeeded with more time.
The Premier has again criticised the Federal Government, accusing it of failing to support the Fox/Lew bid.
"Whilst we had our shoulder to the wheel, while we wanted this outcome, while regrettably this hasn't occurred, the Federal Government was directly doing the opposite, behind the scenes," he said.
"I think there's enough evidence to show that they did not want the Fox/Lew syndicate to get up, they did not want Ansett Mark II to get up."
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 11:18 pm
Ansett administrators to contact other potential buyers
Ansett's administrators will contact other potential buyers following the collapse of a deal to sell the airline to the Solomon Lew-Lindsay Fox Tesna consortium.
Tesna has cited outstanding domestic terminal lease issues as the main reason for its decision to back out.
The move leaves Ansett's administrators again searching for a buyer for the airline or its assets and they plan to talk to Virgin Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Patrick Corporation.
Ansett will be grounded after Monday with refunds to be issued to passengers still holding tickets for travel.
Despite the loss of the preferred buyer, administrator Mark Korda denied a move to liquidation was inevitable.
"What we're going to do is see what we can put together, but what we've said is we've drawn a line in the sand," he said.
"We'll not be able to fly the planes after Monday, but then we'll look at all the assets and where we are over the next few days in the calm."
Chief executive of the Tourism Task Force, Christopher Brown, says today's developments well and truly spells the end of the $33 airfare.
"We learnt the hard way last year that viable airline businesses are more important than $33 airfares," he said.
"We need planes in the sky, we need the people running those planes to make a profit to keep the planes in the sky."
Ansett subsidiaries
The administrator of Ansett subsidiary, Hazelton Airlines, says the company will not be affected by Tesna's decision to walk away from talks with Ansett administrators.
Michael Humphris says Hazelton has been operating under a separate administration since Ansett's collapse in September last year.
He says there are currently four bidders interested in purchasing the regional airline and he is confident they will not change their minds.
"I'm continuing to run negotiations with interested parties who may be able to acquire the business hopefully in the near future, but as such, it's business as usual," he said.
Another Ansett subsidiary Kendell Airlines says it will continue to operate independently despite Tesna's decision to pull out of negotiations to buy the airline.
Kendell general manager Rob O'Brien says all tickets will be honoured and customers should proceed with their travel plans as normal.
He says Kendell remains a viable entity for a prospective buyer.
"Certainly Kendell is still the largest regional operator in Australia and our specialty has always been regional ports," he said.
"That is what we'll continue to focus on, I'd like to think that it would be attractive for another airline to be able to get our feed of traffic."
Blame
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) New South Wales secretary, Tony Sheldon, says the Federal Government has to accept a large share of the blame for the initial collapse of Ansett and the failure of the Tesna deal.
Mr Sheldon says the Government could have done more to help along the negotiations with third parties and provide financial assistance.
"We've seen around the country and around the world substantial sums put in to save airlines because of the knock on the effect on the economy and jobs," he said.
"In this country we haven't seen one cent put in by the Federal Government, they have clearly put themselves up the top of the priority list to protect themselves.
"The could have followed New Zealand by putting hundreds of millions of dollars to protect what they view is a vital industry along with other countries."
The TWU says it will use industrial action to force any operator taking over Ansett's Sydney Airport terminal lease to employ redundant Ansett workers.
Mr Sheldon says a mass meeting of Ansett workers at Sydney Airport on Friday will discuss what action would be taken in the event another operator takes over the lease.
"We believe the Sydney Airports Corporation have an obligation that we will enforce organisationally, industrially, to meet an obligation that anyone picking up the contract for this airport should be obliged to give preference and positive preference to any Ansett worker," he said.
"We are going to push and we are going to make sure that SACL (Sydney Airports Corporation) meets that commitment."
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 11:20 pm
Fox and Lew regret failure of Tesna's Ansett bid
MELBOURNE, Feb 27 AAP|Published: Wednesday February 27, 4:52 PM
Businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew today spoke of their deep regret at the failure of their bid to revive Ansett.
At a media conference in Melbourne they blamed the collapse of the deal, one day before its deadline, on third party issues.
The two men firmly denied speculation that their Tesna consortium did not have the finance to complete the deal.
Mr Lew told reporters a letter of termination was delivered to administrators Andersen at 6pm yesterday.
A late night meeting was called at Mr Lew's office at 8pm where an extension was offered but not taken by Tesna.
Mr Fox said he felt terrible that the deal had fallen through.
"I don't think I've felt as bad about any commercial transaction in my life," he said.
Mr Fox said the consortium now had no plans to purchase any of Ansett's assets.
"We're not in there to try to cherry-pick after walking away," he said.
Mr Lew said there were forces working against the Tesna proposal but it was too early to point the blame.
He said a lot of spin doctoring and leaking of information had damaged the bid.
He said administrators owed the owners of the airports tens of millions of dollars in back rent and there had been discrepancies about how and when it would be paid.
In the end, they only had one airport and six aircraft leases signed, Mr Lew said, and their lawyers would not let them complete the deal while there was nothing to purchase.
Mr Lew said some of the actions of the landlords of airports had hindered the negotiations.
He also stressed that Tesna was fully financed and ready to complete the bid and that key US investors were fully behind them until the very end.
Mr Fox said he would love to see someone come in and revive Ansett but Tesna had not been able to do it under the conditions.
By Jane Williams
sendoisan
Feb 26, 02, 11:39 pm
Hmm. Qantas shares surged 10% on the market today. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
Many of the news quotes above are interesting. Could I ask for attribution be given though to the source for future pastes? That is of interest to me, and as I recall also part of the FT TOS due to copyright etc.
RichardMEL
Feb 26, 02, 11:51 pm
ok will do in future (me bad boy). most items from The Age (www.theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au)) or ABC News Online (www.abc.net.au/news/justin (http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin))
------------------
RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.
doc
Feb 27, 02, 7:50 am
Ansett Seeks New Rescue Deal
A desperate search is under way to find a new buyer for Australian airline Ansett after negotiations to sell it to the Tesna consortium collapsed at the eleventh hour.
If the government fails to find another buyer Ansett will be forced to ground its flights after next Monday, threatening the jobs of 3000 workers.
Tesna, led by two millionaire Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, was due to finalize a AUD$3 billion (USD$1.5 billion) deal on Thursday.
I say they should drop the price and hand AN to SQ. SQ is the only sizable airline in the region to give QF a run for their money. Otherwise Australia will lose a representative in the *A network.
And how shamless of Howard to question the collapse. He helped make this fiasco.
RichardMEL
Feb 27, 02, 7:27 pm
Staff weep as their proud airline loses its wings
Suzanne Carbone
February 28 2002
To borrow the slogan of Ansett's discredited advertising campaign, staff were "absolutely" committed and optimistic about the airline's future.
Many in the loyal workforce turned down jobs elsewhere after last year's collapse because they wanted to stick by the company.
When Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew came forward as saviours, staff believed men with such acumen would deliver.
Customer services supervisor Steve Smith, 46, received a promotion two months ago and up until Tuesday night believed the sale of Tesna was a done deal.
"A lot of people are underestimating how well it will go," he told The Age on Tuesday. But yesterday his jubilation was replaced with shock when the Tesna sale fell through - the second blow for staff in six months. "This is corporate Australia playing with people's lives," he said.
The Australian Services Union delegate is among many Ansett workers who see themselves as part of a big family. Mr Smith has been with Ansett for 29 years and his father, Charlie, was with the company for 42 years.
Yesterday's bad news was too much for customer services officer Liz Vrahos, 32, who broke down while saying staff loyalty had amounted to nothing. "We love this company and we can't believe it's over," she sobbed. Ms Vrahos, who is is expecting a baby in April, said that while she was lucky that her partner would support her, many dual-income families relied on Ansett.
She said passengers had motivated staff during the hard times. "We've not had one negative person. They've been saying 'We can't wait until you guys get back and going'."
Baggage handler Ron Bezzina, 32, joined Ansett when he was 17. It is the only job he knows. His father, Michael, worked for the company for 30 years.
A devastated Mr Bezzina said working for Ansett was like barracking for a team. "I wanted to stay with this team and see it become the great airline that is was before," he said. "We really thought we were going to make it."
Mr Bezzina wasted no time yesterday in submitting his resume with Qantas; his wife, Julie, is expecting their second child next month.
He was angry about the lack of support from the Federal Government and memories of last year's collapse run deep. "Air New Zealand still has a lot to answer for. Their tail is still in the air, but an Australian icon is dead and buried," he said. "How can they play with people's lives like a puppet on a string? It's not like a TV show. This is real life. They've really destroyed a lot of livelihoods."
For pilot Lorne Cole, 35, the Tesna sale had been a saga that affected many people.
"As a pilot group we're highly trained and regulated so we don't get quite as emotional maybe as other areas of the business. It's been hard coming to work and seeing flight attendants in tears and a lot of the customer service people in tears with the highs and lows of it all," Mr Cole said.
"It's a long-time family company and people will not let go."
Mr Cole said the decision by Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew to withdraw from the purchase was devastating because staff had toiled to prepare the airline for its next take-off. "That's probably the hardest thing, that all the work is done. It's so ready to go."
The day Ansett lost its wings coincided with cabin manager Di Thomas, 42, losing her staff ID card. She has been with the company for 22 years and is not going to give up now. "We're tough," she said. "Qantas needs us there and Virgin needs us there and we're better than both of them."
Ms Thomas was hopeful another buyer would be found and called on former premier Jeff Kennett to come to the rescue.
"Help us, Jeff," she said. "So many people from grannies to young children will support Ansett. They just will."
The Age Online (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/02/27/1014704967192.html)
RichardMEL
Feb 27, 02, 7:31 pm
Govt rejects blame for Ansett collapse
February 28 2002
The federal government was not to blame for the collapse of Ansett, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said today.
Mr Anderson also slammed suggestions by the Tesna consortium that the deal fell through because it could not get a lease arrangement with Sydney Airport.
He said the government had done all it could to ensure the airline returned to the skies.
Tesna, led by Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, yesterday pulled out of the deal to buy Ansett, a day before it was due to be finalised.
The duo last night blamed Australia's airports for the collapse of their bid, saying the "major sticking point" was the lease arrangements of domestic airline terminals.
Mr Anderson said this suggestion was "simply wrong".
"Attempts to somehow or other fit up the issue of the terminal lease at Sydney airport, I'm sorry to say, will simply not wash with me," he told Channel Seven's Sunrise program.
The federal Transport Minister also refused to accept any responsibility for the deal's collapse when asked if the government was to blame.
"No, we don't," Mr Anderson said.
"If the government was supposed to do more, that of course means taxpayers money.
"We've always made it plain that we don't believe the government should either purchase or guarantee or underwrite, with taxpayers money, players in the private sector, in aviation."
Mr Anderson said he had supported and voted for the Tesna bid and had been shocked when the bid failed at the 11th hour.v Mr Anderson said he had no reason to doubt Tesna was genuine in wanting to get the airline flying but was as surprised as anyone when they entered into talks with Virgin.
He said the first thought must go to the Ansett employees who were now left with no hope of their beloved airline returning to the air.
But the government's safety-net arrangements were in place to ensure they received entitlements, Mr Anderson said.
Australian governments interfered with business more than any other governments in the world, British entrepreneur Richard Branson said today.
"Governments in Australia interfere with business more than anywhere else in the world, and sometimes to the detriment of competitors," said Mr Branson, the owner of budget airline Virgin Blue.
Virgin Blue has been touted as a potential buyer of the collapsed Ansett, which had been seeking a merger with the budget airline.
Last week Virgin Blue ruled out a deal with the Tesna consortium, which yesterday pulled the rug on plans to buy Ansett, increasing the likelihood the 65-year-old airline will disappear as a force in aviation industry.
The federal government has denied it played any part in the collapse of the deal.
Mr Branson told ABC that the company would be meeting today to decide what approach it should take regarding Ansett.
"We have a fantastic company with Virgin Blue, we have great staff, a most magnificent team of people have set it up, and I think they've delivered a great product," he said.
"I don't want to do anything to spoil that." v Spoiling the formula was also the reason Virgin Blue said no to the merger plans with Tesna. "I think if you get the quality right, if you've got the best staff in the world ... if you can offer great fares and if you've got the youngest fleet in the world, you can do well," Mr Branson said.
"Tesna were telling us all the money they were going to get from Victoria, all the money they were going to get from this, all the money there were going to get from that, in order to try to persuade us to do a merger, which was not necessarily in the interest of the Australian people."
Mr Branson was non-committal about whether Virgin Blue would look at joining forces with Patrick Corp, formerly Lang Corp, in a deal on Ansett. v "(Patrick Corp managing director) Chris Corrigan is enormously well-respected in Australia and is somebody we've had a good relationship with and is certainly somebody we would explore things with," he said.
"The key thing we don't want to do is spoil a formula that works."
Last year, Lang had agreed to take a majority $300 million stake in Virgin, which hinged on Lang Corp buying the Ansett assets.
However, Lang and Virgin Blue were outdone by the Tesna bid, which had the approval of Ansett creditors.
Negotiations continue to sell off Ansett assets
Ansett administrators have been negotiating with Patrick Corp boss Chris Corrigan and Virgin Blue over the future of the airline's assets.
Discussions on who will help dispose of the assets will be in full swing from next Monday.
Administrator Mark Mentha is travelling around the country addressing Ansett employees about their entitlements and other housekeeping matters.
Negotiations with Patrick Corp and Virgin Blue have commenced and joint administrator Mark Korda says discussions with Singapore Airlines will begin next week.
"Yes of course we followed up with Patricks and Virgin on where to from here," he said.
Mr Korda says the process involving the sale of the assets will be much quicker than the proposed sale.
Mr Korda is also backing the Federal Government claiming it did everything it could in the lead up to the airline's collapse.
His comments effectively contradict accusations made by businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox that the Howard Government deliberately stood in the way of their rescue plan for Ansett.
Mr Korda is still not advancing a theory on why the Tesna consortium pulled out, repeating the syndicate's claim they could not meet the sale deadline.
Qantas slams price rise speculation
Meanwhile, Qantas has denied suggestions the collapse of Ansett will see its fares skyrocket within a week.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says increases are inevitable for both Qantas and Virgin Blue.
ACCC chairman Allan Fels has put Qantas on notice that he will be monitoring its fares.
"The whole Australian public will be watching Qantas's fares, now this is a real test of Qantas and whether they will exercise pricing restraint.
"The fact is that the history of airline pricing in Australia has been only when there's competitive pressure do you get good pricing," Mr Fels said.
Qantas's John Borghetti has vowed price rises are not on the agenda.
"100,000 per cent, the reality is that Qantas did not raise prices the first time Ansett went down back in September and it certainly has no intention of increasing prices this week, or in the immediate future for that matter," Mr Borghetti said.
Ansett administrators have held their first talks with new potential buyers Patrick Corp.
Administrator Mark Korda from Andersen refused to elaborate on what was discussed but said someone from Patrick Corp had rung him yesterday after hearing of the collapse of the Tesna deal.
Further talks would continue with Patrick and other interested parties in the near future after "the dust settled."
Mr Korda and fellow administrator Mark Mentha have not ruled out legal action against Tesna principals Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew over the last minute collapse, but said the contract signed with buyers had expired on January 29.
After that, administrators had agreed to work on a day-to-day basis to allow them to pull out whenever they wanted.
Any legal action would be secondary to sorting out employees entitlements and other administrative matters, Mr Korda said.
Tesna withdrew from the sale yesterday.
Ansett Airlines will continue to fly until midnight Monday but its future after that is uncertain.
Patrick was in discussions with administrators last year on the basis that if a Patrick bid was successful there would only be one main competitor to Qantas involving Virgin Blue, not two.
Patrick Corp confirmed yesterday it stood by the offer it made last November before administrators singled Tesna out as the only bidder in which they were interested.
Others thought to be interested in Ansett are Virgin Blue and Singapore Airlines.
Fox blames PM
The Federal government had failed to help with the resurrection of Ansett because it had been embarrassed by airline workers during last year's election campaign, Lindsay Fox said today.
Mr Fox and fellow millionaire Solomon Lew were the principals of the Tesna consortium which yesterday withdrew from the sale of Ansett 48 hours before the deal was to be finalised.
Mr Fox has blamed the federal government, including its inaction over the transfer of the leases of airport terminals to Tesna which in the end killed the deal.
"... the government are the owners of Sydney airport. The government have seen our transaction as ACTU Airlines, and because of that the games played behind the scenes have been quite substantial," he told Melbourne radio 3AW.
He said the Howard government had believed the consortium was too closely aligned with the union movement.
"If you look at the pre-election, at every location where the Howard government and particularly the prime minister (John Howard) was, there were pickets of Ansett workers," Mr Fox told Melbourne radio 3AW.
"One thing about Mr Howard is that he has a very good memory and a very long memory."
Mr Lew yesterday said the inability to lock down leases in the major airports was the main reason Tesna had been unable to proceed with the airport sale.
Mr Fox yesterday said there was no question the airports had stood to gain from standing tough to put themselves in a position to buy terminals with the float of Sydney airport already looming.
Ansett staff have been told it could be years before they get their entitlements following the collapse of the sale to the Tesna consortium.
Administrator Mark Mentha met staff members at Sydney Airport today, thanking them for their loyalty and commitment to the airline.
During the meeting, which was closed to the media, staff were told about the fate of their entitlements.
"We are going to have to work very hard to get the employees their entitlements. It's going to take many years to do that," Mr Mentha later told reporters.
Mr Mentha said the wait on entitlements was a result of the sale falling through.
"We are now recutting our cash flow and recutting the numbers," he told reporters.
"We expected 270 million last night (but) that's now no longer available.
"We now have to look at what other options there are."
Mr Mentha said the sale deal had included the sale of some of the Ansett fleet, which would have gone towards paying some of the staff entitlements.
"We cannot pay these people in terminals and aeroplanes - we have to realise them first."
Amount of entitlements unknown
Mr Mentha said it was not yet known if staff would receive 100 per cent of their entitlements.
"Our original report indicated that unsecured creditors would receive a dividend so therefore full entitlements were likely to be paid; we will have to reassess that," he said.
"I'm not giving any false hopes or expectations.
"We have to recut the numbers - last night we thought we had a sale completion and 48 hours prior to that we were left with nowhere to go."
Mr Mentha said one option could be to pay staff in six monthly intervals.
He said administrators still believed the Tesna bid had been the best deal for Ansett.
But he would not comment on the likelihood of any legal action against the Tesna consortium.
"We are really focused at the moment on getting employees 100 cents in the dollar; they've been up the mountain. It's been a hell of a journey in the last five months," he said.
Standing ovation for administrator
Earlier, staff greeted Mr Mentha with a standing ovation, a gesture he described as humbling.
"A lot of people are still in denial," he said.
"I expected sorrow, I expected anger and I think they were very balanced. It just represents what a wonderful professional workforce they are."
After the meeting, Ansett staffer Penny Vaughan said the end of the airline was a great loss.
But through tears and with her daughter on her hip she said the work of the administrators was amazing.
"They are fantastic, they're outstanding, they're open, they're honest, they're fine human beings and they deserve a lot better than what they've gone through," she said.
Husband and wife Ansett staffers Gabrielle and Todd McGrath walked arm in arm from the meeting, and lamented the loss of an icon.
"I have no feeling - it's dead, finished, complete, upset, emotional, stressful, everything," Mr McGrath said.
"You can keep blaming and blaming and blaming but at the end of the day, Australia has lost an icon.
"We're absolutely devastated."
Ansett worker Anthea Burridge said: "Half of my life has gone in a great job - I guess we now just move on. What else can you do?"
But she said workers were concerned about the wait for entitlements.
"We have had no money for six months. We're all desperate and are doing the best we can. It's really quite devastating."
Mr Mentha was on his way to Brisbane this afternoon to brief Ansett staff there.
Who did what in the Ansett saga?
By Michael Bachelard
02mar02
LINDSAY Fox and Solomon Lew did not even bother to tell their hand-picked chief executive that they were pulling out of the Ansett deal.
James Hogan walked from his hotel to the office in Swanston Street, Melbourne, on Wednesdnay morning with the speculation on talkback radio ringing in his ears. Sources say that at 7.45am he poked his head into the office of administrator Mark Mentha.
``What's going on?'' he is said to have asked Mentha. It fell to the administrator to take him to a quiet corner and gently break the news.
``He was shocked,'' says one observer, ``but he behaved with the utmost dignity.''
Fox and Lew, as they did throughout, kept the lowest of low profiles. Having confirmed to the administrators early on Wednesday that they were pulling out of the deal, they would not even have told ACTU secretary Greg Combet _ the representative of the biggest victims and the biggest creditor, the staff _ if Combet had not called Lew on his private line that morning.
Lew read Combet a copy of the press release he had prepared, shortly before faxing it to the world. It was just eight paragraphs over two pages _ an undignified end to a noble venture that might have pulled an iconic company from the ashes and into flight, with 3000 jobs intact.
Tesna's plan was a grand one _ to resurrect an airline that has flown Australians for 66 years, that had once dominated the skies and was still flying at up to 80 per cent capacity on some days even after the loss of faith that accompanied its temporary closure in the dark days of last September.
Its demise is a tale of intertwined political and corporate manoeuvrings, as you would expect of a company that consumers identify strongly with, and which is both a tenant of and regulated by the Government.
And suspicion has been rife throughout: why the ACTU changed administrators just days into the administration; whether Mentha and Korda were too close to the unions; why Tesna and the administrators made a calculated attempt to pressure the Government into supporting the bid for Ansett by announcing it just two days before the election; whether the Government cruelled Tesna's pitch as a result; and whether Fox and Lew were fair dinkum, or if they simply wanted to grab Ansett's lucrative property portfolio or freight business.
Hogan knew when he dropped into Melbourne from London and met Fox during the Melbourne Cup carnival last year that running this airline at this time would be a tough ask.
But neither he nor his staff were ready for the crunch when it came.
Instead of preparing on Thursday night to launch their airline, Hogan and his staff found themselves drinking to its demise at the local pub, Mac's Hotel. Hogan walked out of the office for the last time yesterday morning, having never talked publicly about Ansett.
But other staff say as far as they were concerned, they could have taken off on time.
"We're ready to fly" was to be the ad that greeted Australians on Friday morning. The marketing campaign, a full loyalty program and a new corporate profile were sorted out.
"We were going to hit the switch on all the valet parking, full service golden wing lounges, long white aprons on board," says one manager.
Sales and service manager Glenn McClusky said this week that two dozen national businesses were ready to switch their lucrative accounts to the new Ansett. Some corporates were annoyed with Qantas, others just remembered Ansett's good old days as Australia's premium full-service carrier.
Loyalty programs manager Paul Scurrah says thousands had already signed up for the revamped frequent flyer program ? a scheme that Fox had sat in meeting after meeting to work on, dotting i's and crossing t's.
"He wanted to make sure it was as generous as it could be without being commercially irresponsible," Scurrah says.
What went wrong is the subject of speculation. But one thing unites almost everybody ? they do not believe Fox and Lew's explanation that they simply ran out of time to meet the administrators' February 28 deadline.
Fox and Lew claim they simply could not tie up all the strings in time. Their only explanation to the administrators was: "Our legal advice is we won't complete by February 28."
They say they had only one documented deal with an airport, Adelaide, and only six aircraft leased when their business plan required 19. They say they had no approval from the International Air Transport Association, which would give Ansett the AN prefix to its flight numbers and access to global reservation systems. Getting that would have cost Tesna up to $30 million and four weeks delay, they say.
They blame Sydney Airport, saying it had delayed negotiations to the very end, they blame the administrators for having outstanding bills with a number of creditors and they blame the Government, as landlord of the airports, for running dead.
Fox said on Thursday that John Howard was punishing them for the pre-election timing of the announcement of the sale deal and for the attendance of Simon Crean, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and the union leadership.
"One thing about Mr Howard, he has a very good memory and a very long memory," Fox said on Thursday.
The Government hit back immediately, leaking details of the $1 billion wish list of subsidies that Tesna claimed from them in November. The grab bag included a government guarantee on 65 per cent of Ansett seats, ACCC protection for the airline, a five-year tax holiday and underwriting of five years of employee payouts.
Suspicion of the Government runs deep in the Tesna camp ? they believe Howard favours Qantas and its well-connected chief executive, Geoff Dixon.
But their deadline thesis does not wash with the administrators. They say they had everybody ready to sign. Anything that was still to be done could have been done in the 48 hours remaining to Tesna. Mentha and Korda were even prepared to offer an extension of their deadline.
There is also deep irony in Fox and Lew blaming third parties for brinksmanship and slow negotiation. Lew's lawyer, Max Cayson, of Clayton Utz, faithful to him since the days of the Yannon case, saw everything as open to renegotiation. He questioned and pored over almost every commercial move. Every item of expenditure ? how the planes would be maintained, the cost of environmental damage ? was scrutinised, every detail fought over. It was a painstakingly slow process and led to the frustrated accusation that Tesna was "chiselling" the deal to get a better one.
But most observers believe the end was precipitated by pure commercial concerns.
Speculation centres on the unsuccessful merger talks with Virgin boss Richard Branson in early February. One account is that in a meeting on February 7, Virgin's adviser, Goldman Sachs, picked a $100 million hole in Tesna's business model, framed by KPMG, and rejected Tesna's proposal for a partnership. Tesna strongly denied that story yesterday.
Most also speculate that their American money men, David Bonderman and Bill Franke, removed their support after the Virgin talks collapsed but they also denied this. Bonderman is close to Richard Branson and both are supporters of the budget airline model favoured by Virgin. Neither American has been available for comment.
Another theory is that Tesna's Australian financiers would not come up with the money and Fox and Lew would have been spending their own cash ? something they are notoriously unwilling to do.
If this is the case, they do have a motive for obscuring the point. The purchase contract with the administrators was not subject to finance, which means it was not a valid reason to pull out of the deal.
If Fox and Lew had problems in this area, and candidly admitted them, the administrators might have been able to sue them.
As it stands, the most likely legal fallout could be Fox and Lew suing the Government for conspiring to harm them. The ACTU is also considering its legal position vis-a-vis Tesna. The administrators appear to be protected from legal action because they kept creditors informed in the most transparent administration in Australian history and because the Federal Court gave some comfort that their decisions were based on commercial judgments they were entitled to make.
As for the future, James Hogan will return to London this week, Lindsay Fox will go skiing in Europe and 3000 former employees will start the search for a job. They will wait up to two years for the bulk of their redundancy pay.
The administrators have already returned to the drawing board, throwing out months of work and will try to sell the pieces of Ansett for a big enough price to cover the employee entitlements bill. Trade creditors will not see a cent.
Chris Corrigan's Patrick Corp and Virgin Blue, who teamed up to put the only other bid on the table in November, are back in the ring to buy the most valuable asset, the terminals. But Virgin's Richard Branson is showing signs of distancing himself from Corrigan and from any desire to own Ansett's terminals.
Branson is famous for positioning himself for negotiations through the media (he recommends the tactic in his books), so his utterances should be treated with scepticism. He might consider a solo attempt to buy the terminals, keeping 100 per cent of the equity in Virgin Blue. It is hard to see Corrigan buying them without Virgin to put in them.
As for the airline itself, on Monday night at 11.45pm, the last ever Ansett flight will leave Perth bound for Sydney.
About 25 people ? flight dispatch and arrival crews, cabin crew, ground crew and flight attendants ? will work as the red-eye special touches down at about 6.45am.
The pilot and the first officer will stay aboard, flying back to Melbourne, empty, as AN451, the last ever Ansett flight, touching down at 8.40am.
They will bypass the 12 gates, with planes already alongside them, and park with 13 others on the tarmac. Then the lonely pair will go to the old Golden Wing lounge where, if they are lucky, the raucous, BYO staff party that started with the last outgoing Melbourne flight at 8pm will still be swinging.
[This message has been edited by RichardMEL (edited 03-03-2002).]
ralfkrippner
Mar 2, 02, 4:39 am
justplanes.com:
AN will cease all operations on Monday evening (04Mar02) as of 23:59 AEDT
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
RichardMEL
Mar 2, 02, 9:06 am
Shrewd Branson plots his next move
Matthew Benns
March 3 2002
From his retreat in the Virgin Islands, Sir Richard Branson has revealed he is planning the expansion of his fledgling Australian airline.
The British tycoon, who just became the custodian of competition across Australia's skies, said he was considering starting another budget airline as well as hiring 1000 sacked Ansett staff.
Speaking to The Sunday Age from his private island, Sir Richard vowed to keep the bargain-basement fares that have become Virgin Blue's trademark.
"The kind of offers we have had over the last two years you will certainly continue to get over, hopefully, the next 10 years," he said.
Sir Richard's 16 planes and 1500 staff are all that stand between Qantas and a monopoly of the Australian skies following the collapse of Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew's rescue package for Ansett.
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"We will be keeping Qantas honest. It's actually good for Qantas ... to have competition," Sir Richard said.
There is no doubting Sir Richard's business acumen in starting an airline in what was a crowded Australian market, and seeing its value jump to more than $500million with the loss of Impulse and Ansett.
It has emerged that he played a crucial role in shooting down the Ansett rescue bid when Mr Lew and Mr Fox visited him in London last month to discuss a merger.
Virgin's airline analysts found a $100 million blow-out in the pair's business plan.
"I don't know them very well. They are entrepreneurs. They gave it a go. At least they tried. It's easy to criticise people who try things and fail," said Sir Richard.
The tycoon has also been linked with Patrick Corporation's Chris Corrigan, who is keen to buy Ansett's infrastructure assets.
Sir Richard said: "Chris Corrigan and myself said we would be happy to talk some months ago but were never given any information.
"The people who were running the process felt they should run it in a particular direction and weren't letting other people in the door. They may well be asking themselves now whether they should have done it differently."
Virgin Blue expects to expand its share of the domestic airline market from 14 per cent to 25 per cent in the next 18 months.
Sir Richard said: "We are going to need 1000 people over the next four to five months and we will certainly be interviewing anybody from Ansett who wants a job.
"In time we want to be a true alternative to Qantas on as many domestic routes as possible. We could at some stage set up another airline with smaller planes to fill in the gaps."
Virgin Blue also has to decide if it wants to buy Ansett's old terminals.
"It is a debate that is raging within Virgin at the moment," Sir Richard said. "The key is to try to keep the costs down. Obviously the terminals will push those costs up."
Shrewd Branson plots his next move
Matthew Benns
March 3 2002
From his retreat in the Virgin Islands, Sir Richard Branson has revealed he is planning the expansion of his fledgling Australian airline.
The British tycoon, who just became the custodian of competition across Australia's skies, said he was considering starting another budget airline as well as hiring 1000 sacked Ansett staff.
Speaking to The Sunday Age from his private island, Sir Richard vowed to keep the bargain-basement fares that have become Virgin Blue's trademark.
"The kind of offers we have had over the last two years you will certainly continue to get over, hopefully, the next 10 years," he said.
Sir Richard's 16 planes and 1500 staff are all that stand between Qantas and a monopoly of the Australian skies following the collapse of Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew's rescue package for Ansett.
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"We will be keeping Qantas honest. It's actually good for Qantas ... to have competition," Sir Richard said.
There is no doubting Sir Richard's business acumen in starting an airline in what was a crowded Australian market, and seeing its value jump to more than $500million with the loss of Impulse and Ansett.
It has emerged that he played a crucial role in shooting down the Ansett rescue bid when Mr Lew and Mr Fox visited him in London last month to discuss a merger.
Virgin's airline analysts found a $100 million blow-out in the pair's business plan.
"I don't know them very well. They are entrepreneurs. They gave it a go. At least they tried. It's easy to criticise people who try things and fail," said Sir Richard.
The tycoon has also been linked with Patrick Corporation's Chris Corrigan, who is keen to buy Ansett's infrastructure assets.
Sir Richard said: "Chris Corrigan and myself said we would be happy to talk some months ago but were never given any information.
"The people who were running the process felt they should run it in a particular direction and weren't letting other people in the door. They may well be asking themselves now whether they should have done it differently."
Virgin Blue expects to expand its share of the domestic airline market from 14 per cent to 25 per cent in the next 18 months.
Sir Richard said: "We are going to need 1000 people over the next four to five months and we will certainly be interviewing anybody from Ansett who wants a job.
"In time we want to be a true alternative to Qantas on as many domestic routes as possible. We could at some stage set up another airline with smaller planes to fill in the gaps."
Virgin Blue also has to decide if it wants to buy Ansett's old terminals.
"It is a debate that is raging within Virgin at the moment," Sir Richard said. "The key is to try to keep the costs down. Obviously the terminals will push those costs up."
MELBOURNE: Up to 800 Ansett jobs could be saved as the administrators make plans for the collapsed airline's Melbourne maintenance operations to be sold.
Joint administrator Mark Mentha said yesterday Ansett's maintenance depot at Melbourne airport and its nearby engine shop and flight simulator would be attractive to buyers.
The administrators would target Qantas and Virgin Blue as well as companies such as Patrick stevedores, engineering firm Transfield and overseas interests in a bid to negotiate the best deal for Ansett staff and creditors, Mr Mentha said.
In other developments:
* STAFF can expect to receive most of their entitlements within eight weeks.
* A MAJOR union said it would seek urgent talks with Virgin Blue boss Richard Branson over his plans to employ up to 1000 Ansett staff this year.
* COMPANIES which invested millions of dollars in Ansett's revival have been thrown into turmoil after Melbourne tycoons Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox bailed out of their bid to buy Ansett.
Mr Mentha said the Fox-Lew Tesna syndicate had missed an opportunity to take over a company staffed by committed professionals who were passionate about their jobs.
"The corporate accounts were coming back," Mr Mentha said.
"This thing was going to fly."
Speaking during a whistlestop tour of capital cities to address workers, Mr Mentha said he regretted the impact of the airline's collapse on its staff.
Some had sold their houses and relocated their families after accepting job offers from Tesna. One left her children in another state and flew to Sydney for a job and others had given away their pets to relocate.
"People hung on working 12 hours a week to keep the Tesna offer and not take other full-time work," Mr Mentha said.
"I regret the impact on people who went so far and were left with nowhere to go at the last minute. If Mr Fox and Mr Lew had looked into their eyes . . . the hurt will be felt for many years."
Mr Mentha said Mr Fox and Mr Lew made every effort to buy the airline but their legal advice was that the sale could not be completed.
"In our view, the documents could be signed and that has been corroborated by the airports and the (aircraft) lessors," Mr Mentha said. He said it was hoped that the maintenance facilities could be sold within two months.
"Clearly there is an opportunity there for Qantas or someone who supplies Qantas and also Virgin (to buy the Ansett facilities)," Mr Mentha said.
Spokeswomen for Qantas and Virgin Blue said they were looking at buying Ansett assets.
Mr Fox and Mr Lew could not be con tacted yesterday.
Melbourne radio station Triple M is staging a comedy show to raise money for Ansett staff who will lose their jobs.
Performers, including Shane Bourne and Russell Gilbert, have donated their services for the show at St Kilda's National Theatre on Thursday.
Sad day for last captain
By ROBYN RILEY
Sunday Herald Sun
03mar02
MARK Littlely will take little pleasure in becoming part of Australian history on Tuesday when he pilots the last Ansett flight into Melbourne.
[history]
History in the making: Mark Littlely at Melbourne airport yesterday. Picture: Karen Dodd
Captain Littlely, 39, will fly AN170 from Perth, touching down at Melbourne Airport shortly after 6am in what he said would be a melancholy duty.
"I will be sad, because it could be the last time I fly a plane for an airline in Australia," Capt Littlely said yesterday.
But he admitted the flight also would be very special to him.
"I plan to have a ball and enjoy the moment," he said.
"It will be special and I do feel very proud."
Colleagues have asked Capt Littlely how he feels about Tuesday's flight and how he would approach it mentally and physically.
"When I get into an aeroplane and physically strap myself in, all the turmoil disappears and I tune into what I have to do," said the Oaklands father of two.
"I do not have a problem with it, I plan to just enjoy the moment."
He said he hoped it would be one of the best in his 20-year aviation career.
"In 10 years, when I look back on it, I want to remember this flight with pride," Capt Littlely said.
"Ansett has been fantastic for me and it is disappointing to see it end in such a tragic set of circumstances."
He said he was not angry with businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew for failing to resurrect the airline.
"I believe they did want to get the airline up and running," Capt Littlely said. "I can't believe they would spend so much time and effort for no reward. The feeling in the pilot group is that the Federal Government has a lot to answer for."
He said if it had been Qantas in trouble, the Government would have produced its chequebook and asked, "How much do you need?"
"It was lip-service to help Ansett achieve a second status. I really do believe Fox and Lew could have gone out and given it a good shake."
As for the redundancy package guaranteed by the Government, Capt Littlely said every Ansett employee would give it up "in an instant" for the chance to work for the company again.
"We all just wanted to stay and get Ansett back up and running," he said.
Capt Littlely, who grew up in Perth, joined Ansett 12 years ago and became a captain three years later.
He said he was fortunate he had been able to continue flying since the airline was first grounded last September.
"Obviously I was very disappointed with the news this week that the bid to save Ansett had failed," he said.
"I have gone through the anger and frustration and now I will probably let the dust settle before deciding what I do next."
He doubts there will be a job for him at Qantas.
"And if there was, I would have to go back to being a second officer," he said.
"The Qantas system would not take me in as a captain and I would be looking at probably another 10-15 years before I got back to where I am now.
"If Virgin Blue expanded, perhaps there might be something there. I don't know.
"The next step for me would be to work internationally, but since September 11 there are not as many jobs for pilots, so I really don't know what we will do."
For the moment Capt Littlely said he would spend some time with wife, Lucy, and their children Lucas, 3 and Greta, four months.
"As of Tuesday morning I am unemployed, but I am not worried," he said.
"We will just go back to Perth. My mum and dad and Lucy's parents are there and we know they will open their hearts and homes to us.
"We have fantastic family support. Everything will work out."
Captain Littlely gave me my first jumpseat ride back in 1998 on a MEL-PER sector.
A great guy.
Cheers,
Justin
[This message has been edited by Skystar (edited 03-02-2002).]
RichardMEL
Mar 3, 02, 10:29 pm
Ansett workers prepare for a wake
BRISBANE
March 4 2002
Hundreds of Ansett workers will toast the demise of what was once the country's biggest airline in a series of farewell parties at Ansett terminals across the country tonight.
Many of today's final 67 flights have been fully booked or close to capacity as aviation enthusiasts and media mark the end of the Ansett era.
Early this afternoon 26 flights between Sydney and Melbourne (13 return flights) were at total capacity with the rest over 70 per cent.
The average capacity for all flights was 73 per cent, according to Ansett figures at 1.30pm.
The airline's last commercial flight, AN 152, will leave Perth at 2.45am (AEDT) tomorrow, arriving in Sydney at 6.45am (AEDT).
The aircraft will fly out again 25 minutes later with the final flight AN 4051 ferrying crew back to Melbourne scheduled to arrive at 8.40am (AEDT).
Ansett administrator Mark Mentha is in Perth today addressing staff about the wind up of the airline and their entitlements which could take years to be fully paid out.
Mr Mentha has spent the past three days talking to employees in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide and will return to Melbourne for the wake to be held in the Golden Wings Club this evening.
"Both he and Mark (Korda) have been really affected by this," an administration spokesman said today.
"These guys have been doing their ****edest to get this airline up. They have become really close with these people (employees) in the past five months, now to have to say it's over ... well, they feel keenly for the staff."
The administration rejected reports of a "fire sale" of Ansett assets, saying the sell off would be orderly to ensure assets were sold at their full value.
At least 700 staff will be kept on during the wind up stage.
The ACTU will attend a hearing in in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) this afternoon to extend or alter existing enterprise bargaining agreements.
More than 700 Ansett employees will be required to keep working, many on reduced schedules, as the death knell sounds and administrators sell off the airline's assets, unions said today.
Employees' enterprise bargaining agreements will expire at midnight tonight - the time scheduled in anticipation of a sale to the Tesna syndicate which has since failed.
ACTU advocate Richard Watts this afternoon will ask the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) to extend or alter the agreements covering about 700 workers, including 460 engineers and maintenance workers who have not been offered a redundancy package.
While the maintenance department was working at full capacity, servicing contract and leased Ansett aircraft, workers in other areas will be stood down without pay during the extension period or required to continuing working reduced hours as the administrators wind up the sale of Ansett's assets.
Employees in call centres and ticketing departments will be kept on to continue customer service and ticket refunding, head-office staff will assist in the administration process and retail employees at Ansett's Adelaide terminal will keep their jobs for a period to enable them to service Qantas customers, Mr Watts said.
Some pilots would also be required to move aircraft, while 91 employees at Ansett's international cargo department were being kept on as the sale to an as yet un-named bidder was finalised.
"These 700 to 800 pople will continue to be employed to service the death knell of the business," Mr Watts said.
Many would have to work fewer hours or be stood down at certain times.
While workers in departments up for sale may be kept on by new owners, others faced redundancy.
These workers were unable to apply for new jobs in the interim or risk losing thousands of dollars in redundancy payments.
Australian Workers Union (AWU) spokesman Carl Phillips said unions would be pushing against moves to continue stand-downs and reduced hours in the maintenance department, saying workers wanted full-time work or the chance to take it elsewhere.
But maintenance employees would more likely be asked to work overtime, Mr Watts said, as the failed sale now required administrators to fully realise Ansett's assets, and service all aircraft in preparation for their sale or for a return to their lessors.
The maintenance department, to be sold by tender with several parties already expressing interest, also maintains components for other airlines and the Australian military.
Mr Phillips said unions were optimistic the bulk of the maintenance staff would be kept on when the department was sold.
Meanwhile, Ansett uniforms were taped to the windows of the airline's Sydney terminal today with workers saying they would no longer be needing them.
Ansett-issue shirts, ties, shoes, jackets and protective clothing adorned the departures terminal at Kingsford Smith airport as the airline prepared for its final flight.
Each piece of clothing was representative of the livelihood of one of the collapsed airline's 16,000 workers, Transport Workers Union Organiser Natalie Sykes said.
"I guess for many people this is their last farewell," she said.
"Employees were asked on Friday to drop off a piece of clothing for this tribute to the thousands of jobs lost," she said.
South Australia's peak union body said said Ansett workers had emerged as the new Aussie battlers.
SA United Trades and Labor Council secretary Chris White, who will be onboard one of the last Ansett flights to Melbourne today, said the contributions staff made to try and keep the airline flying should not be forgotten.
"It can sound corny and cliched for labour activists to champion a group of workers who put up a fight as heroes, but these Ansett workers are now the new Aussie battlers," Mr White said in a statement.
"In the surreal and reactionary place and time that present day Australia has become, they have stood out as a beacon of decency and commitment as they gave it a go to save not only their jobs but an institution of social as well as economic value.
"The campaign to keep Ansett flying should really be remembered for the courage, determination and decency of all the airline's devoted staff."
Mr White criticised the federal and state governments for not saving the original Ansett and businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew for abandoning their bid for the airline.