AIR - Air NZ.

[Jaa]

The history of ex-politicians on boards is pretty abysmal so got to be good that John Key is moving on.

[Sideshow Bob]

The history of ex-politicians on boards is pretty abysmal so got to be good that John Key is moving on.

From a business sense, would think he is above-average compared with most ex-poli's in the business world.....but then again, that wouldn't be that difficult.

[Jaa]

From a business sense, would think he is above-average compared with most ex-poli's in the business world.....but then again, that wouldn't be that difficult.

Bit of help with Air NZ's hedging maybe but no airline, engineering or marketing experience. Was a poor appointment in my mind, perhaps explained by Christopher Luxon now standing for National.

Anyway market seems to like it, back over $3 she flies.

[Blue Skies]

Sharply rising oil prices due heightened US Iran tensions might not be so good for airline stocks on Monday.

[Blue Skies]

At these levels, happy to reduce my holding from 6% to 3% of portfolio. Still a lot of hurdles to face this year & next from what I hear, & you'ld have to be tone deaf not to hear a few alarm bells with new CEO asking all employees to find & suggest areas to make savings. Not the first time an airline CEO has done this & it's not a good look for the brand, but surely borne out of necessity.

[Beagle]

My opinion is AIR has got bloated with an extremely long period of many years of wage settlements with unions at rates materially above the above inflation rate and the compounding effect of this is on an international basis they're not especially competitive any more.

Thank you for posting. In my opinion its good that Greg Foran is looking at cutting costs, that should be his focus. I'm sitting on this being ~ 2% of my portfolio and have no plans to change that.

[Snow Leopard]

At these levels, happy to reduce my holding from 6% to 3% of portfolio. Still a lot of hurdles to face this year & next from what I hear, & you'ld have to be tone deaf not to hear a few alarm bells with new CEO asking all employees to find & suggest areas to make savings. Not the first time an airline CEO has done this & it's not a good look for the brand, but surely borne out of necessity.

Having the Nom de Post of Blue Skies and being negative on an airline is a bit of a contradiction don't you think?

It is not easy running an airline.

[tim23]

My opinion is AIR has got bloated with an extremely long period of many years of wage settlements with unions at rates materially above the above inflation rate and the compounding effect of this is on an international basis they're not especially competitive any more.

Thank you for posting. In my opinion its good that Greg Foran is looking at cutting costs, that should be his focus. I'm sitting on this being ~ 2% of my portfolio and have no plans to change that.

A strong Union can work well for both parties if there is a high number of staff in collectives easier for employer to negotiate collective agreements and if these are good reduces turnover of staff so good around in my opinion.

[Chinesekiwi]

Hmmm Beagle, I will respectfully disagree re the Union part of your comments.

The settlement rates have been not that far off inflation and have been progressively more parsimonious.

Air NZ has a responsible union it deals with and negotiations have been tough but fair over the past few annual rounds.

Unions have proven good for workers at the company and the company itself has expressed satisfaction with outcomes jointly negotiated.

If you wish to want to see cost cuts - then I can suggest middle to higher management levels. There are large numbers of folks at the head office with titles with the word manager in it (and the salary package to go with said title) and yet they have no direct reports.

There is money on the table - in the head office.

[Blue Skies]

Having the Nom de Post of Blue Skies and being negative on an airline is a bit of a contradiction don't you think?

It is not easy running an airline.

Ha, yes agree on both counts.
But sentimentality has blinded me in the past & as you know it's such a cyclical business & facing v significant disruption from these maintenance issues with little resolution in sight.
Easy to get too attached to a particular company but Ive seen this AIR movie before, & each time kicked myself for not reducing my holding while watching the SP slide backwards towards the 260's.
Maybe it won't happen this time but we'll see.
Still hold a significant number at 3%, airlines far too seductive for me to let them all go.