Returning from service in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Henry (“Harry”) Wigley joins with Straun Robertson in 1953 to form Mount Cook Air Services, Ltd. at Tasman to provide sight-seeing, animal control, and crop-dusting services. Wigley is the son of national tourism pioneer Rodolph Wigley, who had organized two aerial tour companies before World War II. Robertson serves as general manager and chief pilot for the company’s two Auster J1s.
Services are maintained in 1954 and on September 22, 1955, Wigley and pilot Alan McWhirter make the first landing on the Tasman Glacier in a ski-equipped Auster. A retractable aircraft ski is developed that permits operations from dry and snow surfaces on the same trip and becomes a major factor in the carrier’s growing success.
Plans are made in 1956 to undertake scheduled service from Christchurch to Mount Cook and Queensland and a Douglas DC-3 is purchased from the New Zealand National Airways Corporation, Ltd. (NZNAC) for the purpose. Unfortunately, adequate facilities do not exist at Mount Cook, Queenstown, TeAnan, and Manupouri and start-up is delayed while modernization is undertaken. In September, a second ski-equipped Auster enters service.
Two additional Austers (J5s) are purchased for the fleet in 1957. In November, three Austers provide the support necessary to film the motion picture Cinerama South Seas Adventure, which eventually results in U. S. tourists seeking air tours through the mountains of Mount Cook National Park.
Orders are placed in 1958 for two ski-equipped Cessna 185s, which are placed in service during March 1959, leading to the retirement of all but one Auster. Tourist flights to the glaciers in the Westland and Mount Cook area accelerate dramatically in 1960. The company begins an open-ended maintenance arrangement with NZNAC.
After three years of airport improvement, scheduled DC-3 service is inaugurated Christchurch-Mount Cook-Queensland on November 6, 1961. Another Douglas transport is acquired in 1962 and with the other company aircraft is painted in a soon-to-be familiar blue and white livery, complete with a lily emblem.
In 1964, books reveal that since 1959, the Cessna 185s have flown 8,000 passengers to the Mount Cook glacier areas. Harry Wigley publishes a book of recollections in 1965, Skyplane Adventure (Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed).
The first six-seater Cessna 185 is purchased in 1966. Grumman G-44 Widgeons and Gannet Super Widgeons are added to the fleet in 1967-1968. A competing carrier, Tourist Air Travel, Ltd., is taken over in 1969 and merged. At this point, the little airline changes its name to Mount Cook Airlines, Ltd. and moves its headquarters to Christchurch.
MOUNT COOK AIRLINES, LTD.: 47 Riocarton Road, P. O. Box 4644, Christchurch, New Zealand; Phone 64 (3) 348-2099; Fax 64 (3) 343-8159; Code NM; Year Founded 1969. Having taken over competing carrier New Zealand Tourist Air Travel, Ltd., Mount Cook Air Services, Ltd. changes its name to Mount Cook Airlines, Ltd. in 1969 and moves its headquarters to Christchurch, where Air New Zealand, Ltd. takes an 11% minority interest. The company fleet now includes 3 Grumman G-44A Widgeons, 3 Gannet Super Widgeons, 2 DC-3s, and several de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapides and Cessna 185s. Most of the Widgeon operation remains centered on the old NZTAT base at Auckland, on the North Island.
A maintenance contract entered into with New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NZNAC) in 1960 ends as the subsidiary Southland Aircraft Engineering is formed to perform the E & M Task. Orders are placed for 2 Hawker Siddeley HS 748s and 6 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders.
The two HS 748s are delivered, one each in 1970-1971, and are placed in service Christchurch-Rotorua and Mount Cook-Rotorua. On Christmas Eve of the former year, a G-44A, chartered by Television New Zealand News to shoot tape of a ship afire in Waitemata Harbour, suddenly dives into the sea during a steep turn (four dead).
During the latter year, Managing Director Capt. Fred Ladd, with Ross Annabell, publish a book of memoirs, A Showier of Spray and We're Away! (Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed), with attention to the Widgeon amphibious operations.
The first two Islanders are also received. On October 19, 1972, a Grumman G-21 Goose joins the Widgeon fleet based at Auckland, as three more BN-2s fly into Christchurch. The NZNAC license for service on the Christchurch-Rotorua-Auckland route is acquired in 1973. A third HS 748 joins the fleet in September, together with a de Havilland Canada DHC-6.
As the result of a wheels-down landing on Half Moon Bay on Stewart Island on January 1, 1974, a Super Widgeon capsizes; after all aboard are rescued the aircraft sinks. A second purchased Goose is lost in October before it can be delivered. Passenger demand accelerates, particularly on the Queenstown-Dunedin and Queenstown-TeAnau and Milford routes. The final Islander is delivered. NZNAC acquires 15% shareholding. Enplanements for the year total 121,914.
The employee population in 1975 stands at 50. The DHC-6 is sold in April and that portion of the fleet providing scheduled service now includes 3 HS 748s and 1 DC-3. The company repurchases its original ski-equipped Auster and Managing Director Wigley lands it on the Tasman Glacier as part of the celebration of the first landing there 20 years earlier. Late in the year, the MCA board elects to discontinue amphibious services.
Freight traffic is down 4.3% and passenger boardings dip 4.2% to 117,000. The year’s loss is NZ$36,120.
In January 1976, Henry Wigley is knighted. Widgeon operations cease at the end of April and the amphibian division at Auckland is sold to Sea Bee Air, Ltd. The proceeds are employed to purchase a fourth HS 748, which joins the fleet in October.
Customer bookings accelerate 10% to 103,100 and freight skyrockets 43% to 135,900 FTKs.
Following extensive airport modification, HS 748 service is inaugurated to Kerikeri in 1977. Float-equipped Cessna 185s begin sightseeing trips from Lake Te Anau.
A total of 129,744 passengers are carried systemwide.
The workforce in 1978 totals 251. Following tests, the carrier’s four BN-2s are found unsuitable for glacier landings.
Freight drops 23.1%, but passenger boardings accelerate 9.9% to 144,323.
Two BN-2s are sold in 1979 as a fifth HS 748, purchased from Air Pacific, Ltd., is placed in service. On October 2, the cumulative total of passengers flown on glacier ski-trips reaches the 500,000 mark.
Passenger bookings for the year advance 16.2% to 167,300 and cargo skyrockets 32.7%.
A Bell 206B JetRanger is placed on the glacier lift in 1980 as three newer BN-2s join the fleet. Freight falls 7.2% to 172,000 pounds and passenger traffic dips 2.7% with 162,700 passengers flown.
One BN-2 is replaced in 1981 by a Fokker F.27-500.
Passenger boardings at Chairman R. W. Steele’s carrier dip again, down 4.8% to 154,900; freight drops 15.8% to 144,000 pounds.
The employee population in 1982 is 174. The F.27-500 and one more BN-2 are replaced by two Pilatus Turbo Porters and a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain; one HS 748 is leased out.
The world economic recession brings a third year of traffic reversal; passenger bookings slip 6.9% to 114,200, and cargo is off 2.4% to 141,000 FTKs.
The workforce is increased 5.5% in 1983 to 152 and an HS-748 is leased from the Canadian company Calm Air, Ltd.
Passenger boardings soar 21.1% to 172,035 and 1.38 million FTKs are hauled, a major increase. Revenues total US$12.9 million and allow a US$1.8 million profit.
Deregulation of the New Zealand airline industry brings several takeover attempts in 1984. By spring, these efforts result in Air New Zealand, Ltd. increasing its 11% share to 30% and the acquisition of a 35% interest in the new Mount Cook Group by Dominion Breweries. Business begins to pick up in late winter, allowing the leased HS 748 to be recalled and a sixth purchased. Also joining the fleet’s HS 748s, 13 Cessna 185s, 2 Turbo Porters, and 1 Navajo Chieftain is a new DHC-6.
Airline employment grows 15.8% to 176. Passenger boardings soar 23.1% to 221,092, but cargo falls 15.9% to 860,000 pounds.
The workforce is increased 2.5% in 1985 to 176. Late in the year, 77% controlling interest is taken in Mount Cook Group by Air New
Zealand, Ltd., which allows the carrier to continue operations under its current identity.
Passenger boardings rise again, up 6.6% to 235,665. The bottom, however, falls out of the company’s freight operation, which drops 88.8% to 96,000 pounds.
Third-level carrier’s customer bookings climb in 1986, rising 0.8% to 237,558. Cargo revives, accelerating 17.1% to 112,000 FTKs.
Passenger boardings climb 26.4% in 1987 to 300,222, but cargo is down 14.9% to 96,000 FTKs. Enplanements decline to 271,560 in 1988 and the carrier suffers a NZ$1.65 million net loss.
The workforce is increased 4% in 1989 to 289 and the fleet includes 6 BAe (HS) 748.B2s, 3 Islanders, 1 Chieftain, 1 Twin Otter, 12 Cessna 185s, and 2 Turbo Porters. In November, Air New Zealand, Ltd. establishes a regional and commuter feeder system, Air New Zealand Link, modeled upon that sponsored by Delta Air Lines in the U. S. Mount Cook becomes the flagship carrier in the new operation.
Despite a continuing decline in tourism, Mount Cook is able, via its new feeder role, to increase its passenger boardings by 27% to 372,000 and earn an after-tax profit of NZ$227,000.
Operations continue apace in 1990, with the company adopting a new policy of not disclosing either traffic or financial data, leaving it to the flag carrier to include those figures within its own.
In 1991, the fleet includes 1 DHC-6-300, 1 Fokker F.27-100 leased from Air New Zealand, Ltd., and 6 BAe (HS) 748-B2s. New routes are inaugurated from Christchurch to Palmerston North and from Wellington to Hamilton.
Operations are maintained with little change in 1992-1993. Chairman N. M. T. Geary and General Manager P. J. Clark oversee a workforce of 300 and purchase 1 new Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
A seventh BAe (HS) 748-B2 joins the fleet in 1994 and with its sisters and the leased Fokker F.27-100, continues to fly tourists to Mount Cook and other South Island destinations. Meanwhile glacier flights continue to be provided by three Turbo Porters and eight Cessna 185s. Plans are made to replace the BAes with Avions de Transport Aerien ATR72s.
Despite New Zealand government displeasure with France concerning nuclear testing in the Pacific, the company, in July 1995, proceeds with orders for seven ATR72-212s. Painted in Air New Zealand Link livery, the first of the large turboprops is delivered in October and enters service from Invercargill to Christchurch. The others will follow in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the BAes is leased to Euroair Transport, Ltd. in the U. K. The new aircraft are employed on tourist routes and as backup capacity on Air New Zealand, Ltd. trunk routes.
Mount Cook Airline’s last commercial BAe (HS) 748 flight leaves Wellington for Christchurch on February 12, 1996. The 748s, which have served on the carrier’s major tourism routes since 1968, are all now retired, together with the Fokker.
Flights continue without fanfare in 1997-1998. On April 6 of the latter year, Air New Zealand, Ltd. sells the light aircraft operations and coach touring businesses of this subsidiary to Tourism Holdings, Ltd. It does, however, retain ownership of both Mount Cook Airlines and Freedom Air, as well as the ski areas at Mount Hutt, Coronet Peak, and The Remarkables. The previous commercial routes are largely maintained and operated as Air New Zealand Link services.
Beginning on January 18, 1999, the company initiates four daily Air New Zealand Link ATR72-212 roundtrips between Palmerston North and Auckland. The carrier also undertakes additional evening Palmerston North to Christchurch ATR72-212 Air New Zealand Link roundtrips.
The first of seven new ATR72-520s is delivered in October. The remainder will arrive between November and February and will replace the seven ATR72-210s currently employed on the carrier’s domestic network.
Following delivery of the last of seven ATR72-520s in February 2000, orders are placed on April 22 for an eighth.
World History
