Airline’s Executives Consider Offers

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29745, 12 February 1962, Page 12

Airline’s Executives Consider Offers

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 11. South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand executives and some of the directors met on Saturday night to consider ways to restore the company to a better financial position. Among the topics discussed were offers of financial help from shareholders. Offers were received yesterday from throughout the Country.

The meeting came after a decision to cut the staff of 68 by 52 per cent. A company spokesman said a new timetable excluding Dunedin, Gisborne and probably Taupo would cosne into operation probably on Monday week. The DC3 chartered from the British airline, Air Links, would be returned witbin a fortnight and SPA N Z would operate scheduled services with two aircraft, with a third doing charter work On February 20 an appeal will be heard against the decision of the Air Services Licensing Authority to allow NA C to operate in competition with S.PA.NZ. on the Nelson-Christchurch route, pioneered by S-P.A.NZ Top company representatives will meet the Minister of Civil Aviation (Mr McAlpine) next week. They had discussions with the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake), the Deputy-Prime Minister (Mr Marshall) and Mr McAlpine last week.

Taupo was excluded from the new timetable, said the general manager. Captain R D Daniell, tonight The company planned tourist and excursion flights to Taupo in the meantime instead t>f a scheduled service Captain Daniell said there was no question of the com-, pany failing to carry on. “We have a completely revised programme to consolidate our position,” he said, “and we will expand from there.” “These are strictly Dunkirk days for us. The Parliamentarians and the Minister

of Civil Aviation don’t care whether Masterton and other centres get an air service or not but we hope and plan to win through,” said Captain R. A. L. Anderson, operations manager of Airlines of New Zealand, Ltd. The decision will mean that the company’s planes will fly south from Masterton on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only, and north on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. At present, north-bound flights are made from Masterton on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and south-

bound .lights on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. "We have to terminate and reduce our services to stay in business,” Captain Anderson said. “Even so, we will need a lot of support to go on from here; we will have quite a fight to maintain this skeleton service.”

Captain Anderson was commenting on the statement issued by the company chairman, Mr J. F. Johnston. He had said that S.P.A.N.Z. would cease flights to Dunedin and Gisborne and terminate the services of 50 per cent, of its staff.