Death of an airline : personal repercussions of the Ansett collapse

In March 2002 Ansett Australia, the country's second largest airline, collapsed after 66 years of operation. Ansert's demise as an Australian business icon and major employer had lasted for six months. After the initial grounding on 14th September 2001, through its attempted resurrection and successive ownership bids, to the cessation of business on 4th March 2002, Ansett made almost daily headlines. Under the banner 'Laid off staff - Death of an Airline' came the description of the significant anguish of Ansett's now ex-employees: 'they emerged from departure gate lounge 11, some were crying, some locked arms in solidarity, others strode past television cameras, too angry to speak' (Burke, 2002). The high profile of the collapse drew considerable public attention and the interest of many parties including the federal and state governments, various unions and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), bidders for the airline and its subsidiaries, creditors, and the administrators. But, by far the most interested were the 16,000 staff whose careers and lifestyles were placed in jeopardy. This paper examines some of the issues facing one section of this Ansett family, the Customer Service Officers (CSOs). CSOs are ground based clerical staff whose responsibilities include check-in, despatch and arrival of aircraft, editing and load control. In terms of financial and emotional costs, the impact of the collapse on the 16,000 staff may never be measured. The aim of this research was to identify some of the outcomes of the collapse on the 235 CSOs based at the domestic terminal at Mascot.