Mt Cook Group shaping up for tough new year

Press, 20 December 1985, Page 4

Mt Cook Group shaping up for tough new year

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

The new year is expected to be a tough one for the Mount Cook Group, but the company was in good shape to meet the challenge, according to the chief executive, Mr Nelson Tolerton.

“It’s been a year of tremendous change,’* he told “The Press” yesterday. Air New Zealand had succeeded in gaining a majority shareholding (77 per cent), the new $l2 million Remarkables ski-field had been opened, the airline’s fleet of Hawker Siddeley 748 s had been enlarged from four to six, 11 new coaches had been added to the landline division, and a $1 million catamaran had been launched for tourist trips in Northland. “It’s also been a very difficult year,” said Mr Tolerton.

The company had suffered from a bad ski season, high interest charges, fluctuating exchange rates, and competition from another airline.

“We are, however, in good shape for the difficult year ahead,” he said.

Mr Tolerton said the company had no plans in the

foreseeable future to replace its 748 s with new aircraft “We are convinced that they are the best for our routes,” he said. Although passenger traffic was running ahead of last year’s figures, Mr Tolerton makes no secret of the fact that he would “rather not have Newmans Air out there.” The new airline had taken some of the cream off the business, he said. Newmans has been flying an almost identical route system to Mount Cook for almost a year, with two De Havilland Dash-7 aircraft Mr Tolerton said the over-all demand on the route was, in his view, insufficient to support economically, two additional aircraft Air New Zealand had kept a low profile since acquiring its majority shareholding in the Mount Cook Group three months ago, and had not attempted to influence the company in any way, he said.

Applications for the position of chief executive had been reduced to a short list but an appointment was still to be made, Mr Tolerton said.