Auckland Airport AGM pays tribute to departing chief

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

Auckland Airport shareholders were treated to a musical tribute and farewell to one of the country's most successful chief executives at their annual meeting yesterday.

To the strains of The Exponents' singalong pub classic I'll Say Goodbye, Even Though I'm Blue, a short video was played, which included shots of such notables as former US President Bill Clinton and the Queen arriving at the airport.

After watching this video tribute, John Goulter appeared moved. The normally phlegmatic chief executive then told his chairman that he would wait until the end of normal business before responding to the tribute.

He later told shareholders that he did not think it necessary to comment on the video. He had learned, however, that the word "retiring" was seen as a dirty word and usually taken negatively.

"What's wrong with you?" some would ask, the less charitable asking: "Have you done something we don't know about?"

He preferred to use the term "restructured" rather than retired.

He said the plans put in place during his tenure would hold the company in good stead - and the company would still be around in 100 years.

Next year is the centenary of the Wright brothers' first flight, which will also be the 75th anniversary of aviation activity on the Mangere site.

In 1960, just a few years before the international airport opened, annual tourist numbers were just under 50,000, said Goulter.

It was aviation, and in particular the introduction of the Boeing 747 aircraft, that had paved the way for today's annual influx of 2 million visitors.

Looking to the future, Goulter said the introduction of the Airbus A380 aircraft, which can carry up to 1000 passengers and is due to fly here in late 2006 or early 2007 - would also have a big impact on aviation and the airport.

Goulter began his working life in 1959 as a wages clerk at Holeproof Mills in Pah Rd, Royal Oak.

He went to Morrow Taylor, a shoemaker famous for its Gadabout brand, then to Ceramco for 25 years, and joined the airport company 13 years ago.

When he leaves the company in September next year, Goulter plans to move to the Bay of Islands to manage a B&B with his wife and keep an eye on a Paihia motel they own.