Ansett Australia @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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    Douglas DC-4 Cargomaster (1970)
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Ansett Australia

Ansett Australia (IATA code: AN; OACI code: AAA) was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 66 years, the airline was placed into administration in 2001 following a financial collapse, and subsequent organised liquidation in 2002, subject to deed of company arrangement.

Beginnings

The company was founded by Reginald "Reg" Ansett in 1935 as Ansett Airways Pty Ltd. This was an offshoot of his road transport business which had become so successful it was threatening the freight and passenger revenue of Victorian Railways. This led the state government to legislate to put private road transport operators out of business. Reg Ansett countered by establishing an airline as aviation was under control of the federal government and beyond the reach of the state government.

Ansett's first route between Hamilton and Melbourne operated by a Fokker Universal monoplane commenced on 17 February 1936. The rapid success of the airline led Ansett to float the business in 1937. As the route network expanded, Ansett Airways imported Lockheed L-10 Electra aircraft. During World War II Reg Ansett opted to suspend all scheduled services, except the Hamilton service, in favour of more lucrative work for the United States Army Air Forces. After the war Ansett battled to re-establish his domestic routes using war-surplus Douglas DC-3s, converted from C-47s and the remaining L-10s.

At this time, the Australian domestic airline travel sector was dominated by Australian National Airways (ANA), established in 1936 by a consortium of British-financed Australian shipowners. The Chifley Federal Government was determined to establish a state-owned airline to operate all domestic and international services. It was eventually thwarted in this aim by the High Court of Australia, and so it established Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) to operate in competition with ANA.

Towards a duopoly

Ansett Airways remained a big player as ANA and TAA battled for supremacy in the 1940s and 1950s. Ansett operated around the big two, maintaining budget fare interstate operations with DC-3s and later Convair CV-340s. The airline was backed up by extensive road transport operations, including Ansett Freight Express and Ansett Pioneer Coaches, as well as the Ansair coach building operation.

The Menzies government, while supporting TAA, because of the excellent dividends it paid to the government, wanted to avoid TAA having a monopoly on domestic services if ANA collapsed, as seemed likely. The only alternative, as it transpired, was for Ansett to buy the ANA operation. Ansett's bid had a number of financial supporters, most prominent of these being the Shell Oil Company. Douglas Aircraft Company was also concerned about ANA's demise, as TAA had ceased to be a customer for their aircraft. The ANA directors fiercely resisted this initially, but in October 1957 succumbed to Ansett's offer of £3.3 million for their airline. The new entity was called Ansett-ANA, the name it retained until 1 November 1968, when it became Ansett Airlines of Australia.

Ansett-ANA's excellent profit record was, at least in part, courtesy of the Menzies government's Two Airlines Policy. The policy effectively blocked any other domestic interstate operators by way of a ban on importation of aircraft without a government licence. From 1957 until the 1980s, under the strict rules set down by the Two Airlines Policy, Ansett and TAA operated as virtual carbon copies of each other, operating the same aircraft at the same times, to the same destinations, at fares, which were identical (under strict Federal Government policy). If either airline wished to change their fares, they had to obtain Federal Government approval.

Reg Ansett then set out to ensure no other competitors could rise up to challenge his airline. He took control of Adelaide based Guinea Airways (renamed Airlines of South Australia) and Sydney based Butler Air Transport (renamed Airlines of New South Wales). The takeover of Butler was achieved with covert support from the Menzies government and by Ansett engineering his employees' purchases of Butler shares (in a similar way as had just been attempted by Butler). He then flew the employees to a general meeting in Sydney and forced a vote in favour of selling out to Ansett.

Following the takeover of ANA, Reg Ansett lobbied the government to block TAA's purchase of Sud-Aviation Caravelle jet aircraft. He was concerned about his airline's ability to finance equivalent jet aircraft, and the major engineering leap required to go from an all-piston fleet direct to pure jet aircraft, TAA had been operating prop-jet Vickers Viscounts since 1954, and so had expertise in jet technology. Ansett was successful in convincing the government to authorize the importation of more Viscount and the new Lockheed L-188 Electra. This action delayed the introduction of pure jet aircraft to Australian skies until 1964, when the Boeing 727–100 began flying.

An unusual feature of Ansett's operations was the flying boat service from Rose Bay in Sydney to Lord Howe Island. This was operated by Ansett Flying Boat Services using Short Sandringham four-engined aircraft. The service ceased in 1974 when the Lord Howe Island Airport was completed.

Expansion beyond domestic aviation

Ansett lost control of the company to Peter Abeles' TNT and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1979, with Abeles taking operational control of the airline. The airline prospered in the 1980s, however a number of substantial investments performed badly, including a share in the US airline America West Airlines (which filed for bankruptcy, but survived) and its Hamilton Island resort (which went into receivership). Ansett also paid millions of dollars for the right to be official airline of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, an investment generally regarded as unwise. This destabilised the financial position of the company considerably. In 1984, Ansett was embroiled in controversy after it banned HIV-positive individuals from travelling on their planes in order to protect their staff. The Australian Flight Attendants Association ultimately rejected the bans.

Ansett expanded into New Zealand in 1987 through its subsidiary Ansett New Zealand after the Government of New Zealand opened its skies to the airline. After the Government of Australia reneged on an agreement to reciprocate, Air New Zealand tried to acquire a share of Qantas when it was floated in 1995, but was not allowed. Instead it bought a 50% stake in Ansett Australia for A$540 million in 1996, though managerial control remained in the hands of News Corporation. Ansett Australia then had to divest itself of Ansett New Zealand to avoid creating a monopoly.

Ansett commenced international service on 11 September 1993 to Bali, followed by Osaka and Hong Kong in 1994, Jakarta on 12 January 1996, and Shanghai on 8 June 1997. Later Seoul, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur flights were inaugurated and soon suspended.

Air New Zealand merger and collapse

In February 2000 Air New Zealand acquired full ownership of Ansett, buying out News Corporation's stake for A$680 million, surpassing Singapore Airlines's A$500 million bid.

Competition from Qantas and a succession of start-up airlines (Impulse Airlines and Virgin Blue), top-heavy and substantially overpaid staff, an aging fleet and grounding of the Boeing 767 fleet due to maintenance irregularities left Ansett seriously short of cash, losing $1.3 million a day.

Air New Zealand attempted to cut Ansett's costs while maintaining the same level of revenue. This did not work, as the cost cutting hurt Ansett. Additionally, Ansett's fleet had been allowed to deteriorate, a situation which came to a head with a partial grounding of its Boeing 767 fleet during the Christmas 2000 season and a full grounding in Easter 2001. Ansett was thus unable to compete with the low cost carriers and Qantas, who were able to run at a loss on some routes, as they could not maintain revenue while cutting their costs, which included laying off staff.

A deal made in April 2001 for Ansett to purchase Virgin Blue was repudiated by Virgin chief Richard Branson in August, and Singapore Airlines, which was initially blocked from buying Ansett, was also prevented from investing further in Air New Zealand/Ansett by the New Zealand government. It then declined to take up an earlier proposed deal to inject over $500 million into Air New Zealand and Ansett after talks collapsed.

In early September 2001, as the trouble worsened, the New Zealand government prepared to rescue Air New Zealand (eventually buying 83% of the company for NZ$885 million) but cut Ansett adrift. Despite public pleas, the Australian government refused to bail out Ansett.

Quickly running out of both lines of credit and options, Air New Zealand placed the Ansett group of companies into voluntary administration with PriceWaterhouseCoopers on 12 September 2001. In the early hours of 14 September, the administrator determined that Ansett was not viable to continue operations (primarily due to the apparent lack of any funds to cover fuel, catering or employee wages) and grounded the fleets of Ansett and its subsidiaries Hazelton Airlines, Kendell, Skywest and Aeropelican. Flights already in the air at the time the decision was made continued on to their destinations, most unaware of the devastating news that would greet them at the other end. Customers and few employees had any warning of the stoppage in operations. An Ansett Boeing 767-200 operating on behalf of Ansett Airfreight due to depart Melbourne for Launceston, Tasmania was the first aircraft to be stopped from flying. It was unable to be unloaded until midday the next day as no paid staff were on duty.

Everyone had been told in the days leading up to 14 September that flights would continue on schedule, and most Ansett employees did not find out until they showed up for work at dawn that day. Thousands of passengers were left stranded and more than 16,000 people found themselves out of a job, making this the largest mass job loss event in Australian history. Widespread protests were held by workers, including the blockade of an Air New Zealand plane about to carry New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark home from Melbourne.

It was alleged by the then administrators that Air New Zealand had engaged in asset stripping of the airline as well as charging of its fuel costs due to Air New Zealand failing to hedge its fuel costs thus leaving it susceptible to major fluctuations in fuel charges during 2000. This claim was strongly denied by Air New Zealand, noting it had funded Ansett's loss of A$180 million in the last year, and Ansett's administrators soon admitted there was no evidence of any asset stripping. However, Ansett engineers working on Ansett aircraft were aware that Air New Zealand had allegedly orchestrated a large number of equipment replacements, such as engine and avionics modules.

Ansett Mark II and Tesna

After receiving a federal government guarantee, Ansett resumed limited services between major cities on 1 October 2001, utilising only the Airbus A320 fleet. This was referred to as Ansett Mark II, an operation run and financed by Ansett Australia under administration. The purpose of getting Ansett back into the air was aimed directly at attracting a buyer for the business and generating positive cash flow. Attempts by Ansett's Voluntary Administrators to re-engage Singapore Airlines to consider a role in resurrecting Ansett through a meeting on 6 October 2001 resulted in it agreeing to play a consultancy role in this effort. The scaled-back operation ran on a tight budget, and its product reflective of that.

It consisted of single class seating with no catering, interlining baggage, valet parking or frequent flyer points. After a month back in the air, the Golden Wing Club Lounges re-opened, however like the scaled-back flying operation, provided no refreshments or other amenities apart from coffee and water. Ansett was essentially in "lock down" mode, while the administrators tried to source buyers in a very challenging market. Ansett Mark II traded only as "Ansett" in a different font to separate it from the former operation. It traded from Ansett terminals, with Ansett ground staff, crew and baggage handlers working around the clock to make it a success with limited resources. Designated gates at each of Ansett's terminals were used for the operation, while aircraft not being utilised were moved away to more distant gates, with the disused concourses being sealed off.

In November 2001, Ansett creditors voted to allow the Tesna consortium, led by Melbourne businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox, to purchase Ansett's mainline assets. The plan involved creating a whole "new" Ansett out of the ashes of the old, but the trademark font and "Star Mark" logo re-instated. It would be a full-service, two-class single-fleet-type domestic airline. It included very reduced staff numbers and an all new Airbus A320 fleet. The new Ansett would operate out of the old Ansett terminals, and temporarily lease the former Ansett's A320 fleet until younger replacements arrived. Loyalty products such as the Golden Wing Club and Frequent Flyer program would be relaunched.

Those members of Golden Wing Club at the time of the collapse would have their memberships re-instated for a six-month period if they used the new Ansett. A new CEO was sourced and hired, and began to put together a new management team. A new head office was planned, and Airbus showcased a new A320 to the consortium. A new catering company was selected, with new Business and Economy Class in-flight meals trialed on passengers on select Mark II services in readiness for the new operation.

The agreement with Ansett's administrators, although well-advanced, collapsed in late February 2002. Without any prior warning, the administrators announced on 27 February that Fox and Lew had withdrawn their bid, citing "Inability to complete the transaction on legal advice". A subsequent press conference with Fox and Lew the same day announced that they had received no financial support from the government for their bid, thus withdrawing their proposal.

With no other saviours, and no realistic chance for Ansett to be revived as a viable concern, the administrators had no choice but to cease all flying operations at 23:59 on 4 March 2002, with the very last commercial flight, AN152 from Perth to Sydney, operated by A320-211 VH-HYI, touching down at 06:53 on 5 March. Staff filled Golden Wing Lounges across the country for mass wakes as the final flights came into land.

Entitlements

By this point, the administration of the company had transferred to newly formed insolvency firm KordaMentha. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) began an investigation of whether Ansett had traded while insolvent, and eventually determined in July 2002 that it would be too expensive and difficult to proceed with an action which would in any case, need to be many separate actions on behalf of individual creditors rather than just one.

With Ansett now grounded again, the administrators began selling off Ansett's assets. This included its regional subsidiary airlines, which still continued to trade despite Ansett being grounded. A creditors meeting post March 2002 voted in favour of an organised wind-up of the operation, under a deed of company arrangement, as opposed to an immediate liquidation. It was viewed that a deed of arrangement would give creditors a greater return than liquidation would provide.

Laid-off Ansett workers were eventually paid most of their entitlements, partly from an A$150 million compensation package offered by Air New Zealand in return for having the ASIC inquiry dropped, but mostly through asset sales and leasing revenue. The Federal Government did provide a A$350 million loan which is being repaid by the Administrators at the same time as the staff are being repaid however, to ensure that there is no exposure to taxpayers, a $10 per seat levy was imposed by the Federal Government on Australian airline passengers. Employees ended up receiving 96% of their entitlements.

Administration and asset sales

Ansett's administrators, KordaMentha, initially advised creditors that it was unlikely that much more money would be realised, due to the depression of the global aviation industry after the September 11 attacks in New York City had the effect of reducing the value of aircraft from A$300 million to A$70 million. In the months following the final flight, the administrators negotiated the sale of the terminal leases back to the airport owners, recouping millions. Auctions were held to sell Ansett's airport furniture and equipment. Its headquarters at 465/489 and 501 Swanston Street, Melbourne were sold to PDG Corporation. Some aircraft stored in heavy maintenance were broken up, as it was not cost-effective to restore them to an airworthy state.

The disposal of the former fleet did not progress quickly, given the depressed aviation market and the subsequent lack of demand by other carriers around the world whose operations had been crippled by the 9/11 attacks only months before. Following the final flight, nearly all of the A320 fleet was ferried back empty to Melbourne, where they sat at abandoned gates in storage. The Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 fleets ultimately found new owners first, and departed Australia between March 2002 and December 2006 as the banks finally reclaimed them, or as new owners were found.

The two Boeing 747s that were leased from Singapore Airlineswere reclaimed within weeks of the collapse and returned to Singapore Airlines, where they were repainted back into the colours of their owner. They subsequently found new lives and were leased to Fiji's national carrier Fiji Airways. The more modern Boeing 767–300, of which Ansett had two, were reclaimed by the lessors in the following months, while two new Boeing 767–300 aircraft which arrived too late to enter service with Ansett, departed soon after. One aircraft was wet leased on a short term basis by Qantas to bring additional aircraft to cover the loss of Ansett, but the aircraft retained its Ansett registration while under lease to it. Another new 767-300, which was halfway through its ferry from Canada, never made it to Australia and returned to Canada. The Kendell CRJ-200 jets returned to Canada within twelve months of the initial collapse.

With the newer aircraft gone, most of the older Boeing 767–200 fleet were moved from the Melbourne terminal gates as Virgin Blue moved into the former Ansett Terminal, and were placed into long term storage at the Ansett Engineering Base until late 2004, when most were sold off to Aeroturbine and flown to the United States to be broken up into spare parts. Many of the British Aerospace 146 aircraft were also stored but broken up at Melbourne. As of 2008 the remains of one BAe-146 sit derelict at Brisbane Airport, and another BAe-146 remains at Perth Airport, although neither of them are still owned by Ansett or expected to fly again. A lone Boeing 767–200 survived the scrappers cull, was sold and continues to fly in the United States as a charter aircraft.

In June 2011, it was announced that the Special Employee Entitlements Scheme for Ansett employees had finished making payments to former staff and the administration of Ansett had come to an end. Staff received roughly 96% of their entitlements.

Fleet

The Ansett Australia fleet as of 13 September 2001 (last day of trading) was made up of the following aircraft:

Aircraft Fleet Notes
Airbus A320-20specs_0 20 Branded as "Ansett Skystar"
BAe-146-200/200QT/300 18 200/200QT Series Used with Ansett Australia, 300 Series with Ansett New Zealand
Boeing 727-200F 1 Freight Aircraft
Boeing 737-300 23
Boeing 747-300 10 Branded as "Ansett Spaceship"
Boeing 747-400 2 Leased from Singapore Airlines, branded as "Ansett Spaceship"
Boeing 767-200 9
Boeing 767-300 4
Bombardier CRJ-200 12 Operated by Kendell
DHC-6 Twin Otter 4 Operated by Aeropelican
Fokker F50 9 Operated by Skywest
Fokker F-27 1
Fokker F-28 4 None operational at time of collapse
Saab 340 16 Operated by Kendell and Hazelton Airlines
Fairchild Metro 23 7 Operated by Kendell and Hazelton Airlines
Total 130

Only the Airbus A320 was utilised from Ansett's original fleet during the brief re-launch of operations as "Ansett Mark II" from October 2001 to March 2002. The Boeing 737, Boeing 767, and Boeing 747 fleet was grounded from September 2001 onwards as were the BAe-146 fleet, with the exception of a one-off revenue flight from Cairns to Brisbane in November 2001, operating off the back end of a charter flight for the government. Two other Ansett BAe-146 aircraft were chartered by the federal government in late 2001 during the federal election campaign.

Several of the defunct fleet types did operate ferry flights back to Melbourne from wherever they ended up across Australia in the months after the collapse, and operated the occasional test flight around Melbourne to retain currency.

Of the subsidiary fleets, only the Kendell Bombardier CRJ-200 did not return to active flying. The Fokker F50, Saab 340, Twin Otter and Metro 23 regional aircraft were all back flying for Skywest, Kendell, Hazelton and Aeropelican in the weeks following the collapse. Both Kendell and Hazelton merged to create Regional Express Airlines. As of 2013, five former Kendell Saab 340's were in service with Regional Express with the others phased out. Three of the former Hazelton Airlines Saab 340's were in service with Regional Express.

Historical fleet

Aircraft In Fleet Enter/Exit Service
Lockheed L-188A ? 1959-1983
Vickers Viscount ?
Boeing 727-100/200 ? Passenger Aircraft
Douglas DC-3/C-47 41 1938-1975
Douglas DC-4 ? 1963-1972
Douglas DC-6 ?
Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair ? 1965-1974
DHC-4 Caribou 4
Douglas DC-9 12 1967-1982
de Havilland DHC-7 1 1965-1969
Fokker F28 4 1970-2001
Mohawk 298 2 1987-1991
Convair 240 Family ? ????-????

Star Alliance

On 30 March 1999 Ansett Australia joined the Star Alliance, a global network of carriers, opening up interline agreements with a dozen different carriers connecting to over 100 countries across the world. Reciprocal rights for certain Star Alliance membership tiers was offered, including earning frequent flyer points and a wide selection of lounge access. The Star Alliance logo was added to every aircraft in the Ansett fleet, as well as its regional subsidiary airlines. Other Star member carriers like United Airlines benefited greatly by Ansett's membership, with seamless feeder connections from its trans-Pacific services. Membership in the Star Alliance was suspended upon the Ansett Group entering administration. Upon sale to the Tesna Consortium it was planned for the airline to rejoin Star Alliance, however the March 4th Shutdown rendered this meaningless.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 17 May 1946, VH-UZP Lockheed 10B Electra "Ansalanta", Essendon to Parafield (Ansett Airways inaugural direct service). Controlled flight into terrain on an instrument approach, aircraft ended inverted - 12 on board survived without serious injury.
  • On 30 November 1961, Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a Vickers Viscount, crashed into Botany Bay shortly after take-off from Kingsford-Smith Airport, Sydney, New South Wales. The starboard wing failed in a thunderstorm. All 15 people on board were killed.
  • On 22 September 1966, Ansett-ANA Flight 149, a Vickers Viscount, crashed at Winton, Queensland after a mid-air fire caused structural failure of the port wing. All 24 people on board were killed.
  • On 22 March 1992, a BAe-146-200A (registration VH-JJP) experienced a failure of all four engines (a condition known as an uncommanded rollback) and the electrical system at night while en route from Karratha to Perth, Western Australia at 31,000 feet in icing conditions. The aircraft landed safely at Meekatharra following restart of the engines at lower altitude.
  • On 19 October 1994, Ansett Australia Flight 881, a Boeing 747-300 (VH-INH) operating Sydney to Osaka, returned and landed at Sydney without the nose wheel extended. Approximately one hour after departure the crew shut down the number one engine because of an oil leak. They returned the aircraft to Sydney where the approach proceeded normally until the landing gear was selected. With selection of the landing gear and selection of the flap beyond a setting of flaps 20, the landing gear warning horn began to sound because the nose landing gear had not extended. The flight crew unsuccessfully attempted to establish the reason for the warning. Believing the gear to be down, the crew elected to complete the landing, with the result that the aircraft was landed with the nose gear retracted. There was no fire and the pilot in command decided not to initiate an emergency evacuation. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely.
  • On 19 May 2000, Boeing 767-200 VH-RMO suffered a nose wheel collapse at Sydney Terminal during an overnight service. The aircraft was not occupied by passengers or crew at the time.

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    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).