Is MyTravel on the rocks?

MyTravel’s future lies in the balance today after the company posted a full year pre-tax loss of £910million – far worse than the £600million loss that the city had projected. Chief executive Peter McHugh said that the company had had an “extremely poor” year and conceded that “poor management information systems” were partly to blame, impacting the company’s “ability to make reliable forecasts and take appropriate action.” The group, which today announced the appointment of John Allkins as finance director, has seen a spate of departures in recent weeks including UK and Ireland chief Duncan Wilson, aviation director Bill McGrorty and overseas purchasing director Bill Allen. Things have gone from bad to worse for the former Airtours since last year. Last month the company revealed that it had even managed to make a loss over the summer period – leaving many observers questioning how it could be in business at all if it could not even make money at peak holiday times. Speaking on Radio 4 this morning, Mr McHugh said that travellers could feel “confident” when booking with the company: He said: “We have the cash to sustain ourselves through the rest of 2003 and into 2004, we are confident that those customers will be able to have a good holiday next year and they should have confidence in us.” A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman told TravelMole that it “definitely had no plans” to revoke the company’s Air Travel Organisers’ Licence, which it renewed in the autumn. In marked contrast to MyTravel’s woes rival First Choice reported a healthy set of results earlier this week. Why have things gone so badly wrong for MyTravel? Post your comments here. Other relevant stories: 11-Dec-03: TravelMole Interview: Philip Jansen, MyTravel 11-Dec-03: Is MyTravel on the rocks? 11-Dec-03: MyTravel Summer 2004 bookings down