The future of Ansett Airlines is uncertain, but it's unlikely it will ever again be a force in Australian aviation.
The last hope that the airline -- which collapsed last September before restarting as a scaled-back operation controlled by administrators -- would resume as a full service airline ended on Wednesday.
Tesna, the consortium led by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox and his retail king mate Solomon Lew, pulled the plug on their plan to buy Ansett just 48 hours before the sale deadline.
Ansett will operate until at least midnight Monday March 4, but after that there are no guarantees.
After a five month gamble by administrators to save the airline from liquidation, that is now a major possibility.
The administrators of Ansett, accountants Andersen, said today they would consider any other bids for Ansett.
"We are assessing the situation and, as foreshadowed at the creditors' meeting, will return to the unsuccessful bidders to pursue an alternative course," Mark Korda said in a statement.
Andersen decided last November that Tesna would be the only bidders for the airline with whom they would negotiate.
Other parties who had shown interest - stevedoring group Patrick Corp (then Lang Corp), a staff group ANstaff and at one stage Singapore Airlines - were cut out of the deal.
Patrick is now looking like the last hope that anything can be salvaged - but they will not be presenting the same option to remake Ansett Airlines as Qantas' major competitor in the Australian skies.
Patrick Corp said the offer it put on the table last year still stood.
"We're not commenting except to say the offer we put on the table with the administrators in conjunction with Virgin Blue is current," said Patrick spokeswoman Felicity Moffatt.
Last November, Patrick Corp said it was working on a proposal to acquire some Ansett assets in a deal with Virgin Blue.
Patrick was in discussions with the Ansett administrators last year on the basis that if a Patrick bid was successful there would only be one main competitor to Qantas, not two.
Last year Patrick had agreed to take a majority $300 million stake in Sir Richard Branson's airline. That option hinged on Patrick buying the assets of Ansett, after the airline collapsed in September.
The other main party interested in Ansett, ANstaff, said it would not be reviving its bid.
"The business plan that the Ansett staff put together was an excellent plan, probably superior in quality to that of Fox and Lew, but it didn't find popular support amongst the investors," Ansett Pilots Association president Henry Otto said today.
"It died a death. It would need a white knight to come out and I can't see that happening."
Prime Minister John Howard said he hoped something could be done to keep Ansett in some form for the sake of employees.
"I hope that the administrator immediately looks at the alternative bid, I hope the administrators doesn't look at liquidation."
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks told state parliament he understood administrators were seeking fresh negotiations with Patrick, Virgin and Singapore Airlines.
He said the government would work with the administrator to see if it could assist in getting Ansett up and running again.
Source: AAP
