Ansett Australia

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.

History

The company was started by Reg Ansett in 1935 as Ansett Airways Pty. Ltd. The business floated in 1937, and was contracting for the USAAF during the war. 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.

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.

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.

Services

Ansett Australia offered travellers a range of services.

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.

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

Capital Shuttle

Ansett's Capital Shuttle operated between Sydney and Canberra.

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.

Ansett Aircraft Spares & Services

The Ansett name lives on in Ansett Aircraft Spares & Services (ASSS), 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 Brakng 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.

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

References

KordaMentha, "Ansett Group (Subject to Deeds of Company Arrangement) Sixth Report to Creditors 31 March 2006" (PDF)

External links

Defunct airlines of Australia

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