Ansett Australia
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| Ansett | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA AN | ICAO AAA |
Callsign Ansett |
| Founded | 1935 | <tr><th colspan="2">Hubs</th><td>defunct|
| Fleet size | defunct | |
| Destinations | defunct | |
| Headquarters | Image:Flag of Australia.svg Melbourne, Australia | |
| Key people | Sir Reginald Ansett (founder) Sir Peter Abeles (former owner and CEO) | |
| Website: http://www.ansett.com.au | ||
Ansett Australia or Ansett was a major Australian domestic and international airline, flying passengers around Australia and to destinations in Asia at its height in 1996. The airline failed financially in 2001 and the majority of its assets have since been liquidated. Ansett operated for 66 years and 11 days after its first take off from Hamilton in Western Victoria.
Contents |
[edit] History
The company was started by Sir Reginald Miles 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 national government and beyond the reach of the state government.
His first route was between Hamilton, in western Victoria, and Melbourne, the state capital, operated with a Fokker Universal monoplane. The rapid success of the airline led Ansett to float the business in 1937. As the route network expanded, Ansett Airways imported Lockheed Electra aircraft. During World War II Reg Ansett opted to suspend all scheduled services in favour of more lucrative work for the USAAF. After the war Ansett battled to re-establish his domestic routes using war-surplus Douglas DC-3s, converted from C-47s and a motley collection of smaller airliners.
The Australian domestic airline scene was dominated by Australian National Airways (ANA), established in 1936 by a consortium of British shipowners. The Chifley Labor 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 Australian Airlines (TAA) to operate in competition with ANA.
Ansett Airways remained a bit player as TAA and ANA battled for supremacy in the 1940s and 1950s. TAA, being better managed and having better aircraft, had driven ANA to the verge of bankruptcy by 1957. 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 Liberal 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 out the ANA operation. The ANA directors fiercely resisted this initially, but eventually succumbed to Ansett's offer of 3.3 million pounds for their airline. Ansett's bid had a number of financial supporters, most prominent of these being the Shell Company. Douglas Aircraft was also concerned about ANA's demise, as TAA was never a supporter of Douglas product. The new entity was called Ansett-ANA, the name it retained until 1968.
Ansett-ANA's excellent profit record was largely courtesy of the Menzies government's 'Two Airlines Policy' which propped up Ansett-ANA and clipped TAA's superior marketing efforts. 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 Ansett and TAA operated as virtual carbon copies of each other, operating the same aircraft at the same times to the same destinations.
Reg Ansett then set out to ensure no other competitors could rise up to challenge his airline, as he had done with ANA. 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. He then flew the employees to a general meeting in Sydney and forced a vote in favour of selling out to Ansett.
Ansett-ANA was profitable courtesy of government support, but also because of Reg Ansett's parsimonious ways. Ansett-ANA operated from terminals around the country that were best described as spartan.
Following the takeover of ANA, Reg Ansett lobbied the government to block TAA's purchase of Sud 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 Viscounts 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.
The post-war years were marked with numerous acquisitions, including Australian National Airways (1957). The airline prospered during the second half of the 20th century, especially 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.
One of the most unusual aircraft that was operated by Ansett was the DC-4 / C-54 outsized freighter conversion ATL-98 Carvair. Three of the airlines own DC-4s were delivered to the United Kingdom for conversion by Aviation Traders Limited, the company run by Sir Freddie Laker as Managing Director.
Air New Zealand, previously a 50% shareholder, acquired full ownership of Ansett in February 2000, buying out News Corporation. Competition from Qantas and a succession of start-up airlines, top-heavy and overpaid staff, an ageing fleet and grounding of the Boeing 767 fleet due to maintenance irregularities left Ansett seriously short of cash. Ansett became a drain on its parent and Air New Zealand itself was ultimately bailed out by the New Zealand Government. It placed the Ansett group into voluntary administration on 13 September 2001. A day later, the administrator decided that Ansett was not viable and grounded the fleets of Ansett and its subsidiaries Hazelton Airlines, Kendell, Skywest and Aeropelican.
After receiving a federal government guarantee, Ansett resumed limited services between major cities on 1 October 2001. This was referred to as 'Ansett Mark II'.
The process of administration of the companies' assets continues to this day with employees receiving $A544.7 million out of entitlements estimated at $A766.4 million (or about 71c in the dollar) and it is expected that another $A85.1 million will be raised. Ansett's administrators, KordaMentha, told creditors that it was unlikely that much more money would be realised, due to the depression of the global aviation industry after September 11 reducing the value of aircraft from $A300 million to $A70 million. Some aircraft in heavy maintenance were broken up as it was not cost-effective to restore them to an airworthy state. Most of the Boeing 767 fleet remained parked at Melbourne until late 2004, when they were sold and flown to the United States to be broken up into spare parts.
[edit] Tesna
In November 2001 Ansett creditors voted in favor of the Tesna consortium led by Melbourne businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox, to purchase Ansett. The plan included very reduced staff numbers and new aircraft. Fox and Lew said they had received no support from the government for their bid, thus they canceled their proposal. This agreement, although well advanced, collapsed in February 2002. With no other saviours, Ansett ceased operations permanently on 4 March 2002.
[edit] Services
Ansett Australia offered travellers a range of services.
[edit] Golden Wing Club
Golden Wing Club was the airport lounge service owned and operated by Ansett. Members received a bi-monthly magazine called "Travelling Life", as well as many other features. Golden Wing Club Lounges were located throughout Australia and New Zealand, with members being able to access all Star Alliance Lounges as well.
[edit] Global Rewards
Global Rewards, the Ansett Australia Frequent Flyer Program.
Points could be used for services from Ansett Australia and their Airline and Program Partners including:
- flights
- upgrades
- holidays
- hotel stays
- car rentals
[edit] Capital Shuttle
Ansett's Capital Shuttle operated between Sydney and Canberra.
[edit] Administration
The Ansett Australia administration is being conducted in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by "KordaMentha Pty Ltd". Air New Zealand originally placed Ansett under administration with PricewaterhouseCoopers, but this was later changed because it was not in the best interests of Ansett. Major unions also preferred an alternative administrator.
[edit] Ansett Aircraft Spares & Services
The Ansett name lives on in Ansett Aircraft Spares & Services (AASS), which was established in 1958 to procure parts for the Australian operation. In the 1980's AASS began to sell Ansett's excess, or no longer required inventories of spare parts. In 2003, management of AASS purchased the operations from Ansett's Administrators and currently sells Ansett's and other airlines consigned spares. AASS is also a distributor for Avox Systems, Aircraft Braking Systems, PTI Technologies, 3M, Bill Thomas Associates, General Electric, Telex Corporation, Dukane Seacom Division, LPS Laboratories, Essex PB&R, and EDO Corporation. AASS maintains facilities and sales offices in Los Angeles, London and Melbourne.
[edit] Sponsorship
Ansett Australia was one of the major sponsors of the AFL, holding the naming rights to the AFL pre-season competition, the Ansett Australia Cup. It was also a major sponsor of Waverley Park/VFL Park. The logo was visible around the stadium.
Ansett was also a Major Sponsor of Australian Cricket, with the Ansett Australia Test Series a prominent fixture of the Australian summer. Ansett's logo (called the StarMark) appeared on all players' training and game shirts, as well as around the boundary and on the field during Test Series.
It was also the sleeve/major sponsor of the Brisbane Broncos National Rugby League team from 1996-2001
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Ansett Australia Administration Website
- Sir Reginald Ansett Transport Museum
- Ansett Airlines Ephemera
- Ansett Airways
- Ansett Aircraft Spares & Services
- Ansett Aviation Engineering Services
- The Spirits of Ansett
- AnsettSTARS
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es:Ansett Australia fi:Ansett Australia fr:Ansett Australia nl:Ansett Australia ja:アンセット・オーストラリア航空 pt:Ansett Australia sv:Ansett Australia zh:安捷航空
