Trans Australia Airlines Celebrates Forty Years of Achievement

The original Australian National Airlines Bill of 1945 was presented to the Federal Parliament in July of that year and in essence, proposed that the airline services of Australia be handled by a Government body. The Bill was passed the following month and received Royal Assent on 16 August. Because of the threat posed to their interstate operations, ANA, Guinea Airways and MacRobertson Miller each issued a writ against the Commonwealth Government citing three grounds on which they challenged the validity of the Act. (To the management of East West Airlines all this would sound hauntingly familiar!) The case went to the High Court and when the decision was handed down on 14 December 1945 the Court said that although the Commonwealth could conduct a public operated airline, unless safety factors were a reason, it would not refuse other operators a licence.

This meant that the Government could not nationalise the airlines but it did give it the option to form its own airline to compete with the other airlines on interstate routes. Faced with this choice, the Government led by Mr Chifley formed a subcommittee to select a National Airlines Commission. On 7 February 1946 it was announced that Mr Arthur W Coles the Federal Independent Member for Henty would be the Chairman of the five man Committee. Soon after a name for the new airline was arrived at. The Government had initially favoured Australian National Airlines but to avoid confusion with ANA, it decided on Trans Australia Airlines. There was some thought to change ‘Australia’ to ‘Australian’ but this did not eventuate. When the press began to comment on the matter the name was abbreviated to TAA and they were the initials by which the airline was best known.

Arthur Coles was an outstanding organiser who readily recognised talent. He had a wealth of experience behind him in several areas. He was Lord Mayor of Melbourne during the late thirties and was Managing Director of G J Coles, a venture started by Arthur with his brother George soon after their return from service in World War I. From a single store in Collingwood, Coles has grown into what it is today. With his undoubted entrepreneurial skills, it is no wonder that Coles had been selected for the formidable task in front of him. Coles also had enemies because of events which occurred in 1941. When Robert Menzies was succeeded by Arthur Fadden during 1941, both the Coalition Government and the Labor Party held 36 seats each in the House of Representatives. The balance of power was held by two Independent Members one of whom was Coles. During a stormy budget debate vote, Coles and Wilson – the other independent, crossed the floor and voted with Labor, the Fadden Government which was but 35 days old fell and John Curtin was the new Prime Minister.

Coles’ task to mould an airline was not an easy one and in particular, it was most important that top-level staff of exceptional abilities were selected so that the establishment of the infant airline could proceed smoothly and quickly. It was in one of these choices in particular, that Coles was to make a master stroke. Captain Lester Brain, who was Qantas’ Operations Manager had applied for the position of Operations Superintendent. However, Coles felt that Brain should be considered for the position of General Manager and after this was conveyed to Brain he accepted the post.

Lester Brain had amassed a particularly impressive flying career by the time of his TAA appointment. He came top of his course at Point Cook in 1923 and after a brief return to his previous job with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney he joined Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services in April 1924 and became one of their three pilots. During a distinguished career he was involved in many notable exploits such as the location of the Kookaburra flown by Anderson Hitchcock in their ill-fated search for the Southern Cross in 1929. Brain took delivery of Qantas’ first DH-86 and flew it on its delivery flight in 1934 to Australia. He became Qantas’ Manager of Flying Operations in 1938 and continued his flying career until his 1944 appointment as Qantas’ Operations Manager.

Lester Brain’s experience with Qantas in both operational and administrative roles were valuable assets which well placed him to tackle the many vexing tasks ahead. He had secured from Arthur Coles the understanding that he would have the sole authority to appoint, dismiss or promote staff. It was a big responsibility, but Brain was equal to the task and the skill with which staff decisions were made vindicated Brain’s request to hold such wide ranging powers.

An early appointment made by Brain was that of the Operations Manager, a position of great importance. Amongst the applications was one from Group Captain John Ryland DFC. Ryland’s first flying job in 1937 was with Ansett Airways as a junior pilot and two years later he had accumulated 4,500 flying hours and had risen to the position of Captain. When the war broke out, he joined the RAAF and after six years service he rejoined Ansett Airways as their Operations Manager. Brain was impressed by Ryland’s many-faceted abilities and he knew that he was the man he wanted for TAA as their Operations Manager. The decision was a wise one of far-reaching implications for TAA. In later years Ryland became TAA’s Assistant General Manager and he ultimately replaced Brain as General Manager when Brain resigned some years later.

It was fortuitous for TAA that a huge manpower force existed at the end of the war possessing skills which could be readily used by the airline. All of the services, but most notably the RAAF from TAA’s viewpoint, had released thousands of men and this resulted in several thousand applications for employment being received by TAA. Naturally, all the airlines were in a similar position to take advantage of this vast reservoir of trained men, but none were better placed than TAA who were in a particularly fortunate situation to rec:p the benefits of this pool of skills. Apart from many personnel who joined TAA as ex-servicemen, others came from the other Australian airlines. Amongst these for example was Captain Aubrey Koch who was famous for his exploits with Qantas’ flying boats and who joined TAA as a senior DC-4 Captain. He later became TAA’s Inspector of Air Safety when his wartime injuries forced his retirement from flying duties. Another appointment of particular note was that of Captain John Chapman whose abilities were well known to Lester Brain. Chapman had no less a teacher than Charles Kingsford-Smith and during his flying career he was involved in several significant flights both in Australia and New Guinea. He was employed by several companies including Trans-Continental Airways of Sydney in 1935, Guinea Airways in 1936, ANA the following year and he rejoined Guinea Airways again in 1938 and eventually became their Flight Superintendent. He flew transport aircraft with the RAAF and resumed his civilian duties with Guinea Airways before joining TAA in 1946. John Chapman later became TAA’s Assistant General Manager when John Ryland took over from Lester Brain.

Amongst the other senior appointments was one of vital importance which was to have a fundamental influence on TAA’s fortunes for many years ahead. This was the selection of John Watkins as TAA’s Technical Superintendent. Watkins was born in Musselburgh, Scotland and came to Australia with his family at the age of two. After studying at various schools in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia he gained his BE (Mech) from Adelaide University in 1930. He studied further at Imperial College, London during 1931-32 and obtained his DIC (Aeronautics). During his employment with Vickers (Aviation) at Weybridge he had the fortunate experience of working in the Stress Office with Barnes Wallis. He returned to Australia in 1934 and held appointments with the Air Board, Civil Aviation Board and Department of Civil Aviation and occupied the position of Acting Superintendent of Airworthiness and Aeronautical Engineering with DCA at the time of his application to join TAA. John Watkins’ outstanding engineering experience and abilities coupled with his communication skills made him a valuable asset for the emerging TAA. He was eventually appointed TAA’s Director of Engineering in 1953 and held that position until he retired from TAA in 1971. He continues to be keenly interested in all matters aeronautical and earlier this year presented a paper to the Chartered Institute of Transport at the Australian Transport Conference in Adelaide.

It was indeed a time of intense activity for the senior personnel of TAA. When Arthur Coles had stated early in 1946 that TAA would have full services in operation by October there were detractors everywhere. Apart from not having any staff or aircraft, TAA possessed none of the thousands of other items needed to get an airline operational. An almost endless array, ranging from premises, hangars, spares, stationery and ground equipment were just a sample of the tasks to be conquered. However what many people did not count on was the sheer talent of the TAA team which Brain had assembled. Working feverishly they ignored the ridicule which was being heaped on TAA and pressed ahead, assembling all the sundry items that collectively, constituted an airline.

Obviously apart from personnel, the most important single priority was the acquisition of aircraft. The Commonwealth Government had 13 DC-3s and C-47s on lease to other Australian operators and these aircraft were made available to TAA with the proviso that they were to be returned to the Government if they were required. In addition, the Government had four DC-4s on order. Although they were not originally intended for TAA, the Government agreed that they should be delivered to the new airline. DC-3s were received by TAA from mid-June 1946 and were quickly repainted in their new livery in preparation for entry into service.

All the planning, toil and expertise assembled in those hectic months in 1946 blended together and in September 1946 a major new airline took to the ait. On the cold morning of 9 September VH-AES ‘Hawdon’ took off on that historic first TAA flight from Laverton to Mascot. Work on the runways and surrounding areas at Essendon had prompted a temporary move to Laverton where both TAA and ANA were ensconced in RAAF facilities. TAA was operating out of two RAAF hangars and a temporary passenger lounge was established in the administrative building. On board ‘Hawdon’ were many dignitaries including the members of the Commission, the Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford, senior TAA staff and a consignment of mail. They were treated to the first hot breakfast served to passengers on a domestic Australian airline flight, consisting of scrambled eggs on toast, butter, scones, and marmalade with a choice of coffee or tea. What a portent for the future! Some weeks later on 2 October, regular revenue flights carrying members of the public commenced and TAA was really ‘up,up and away’.

From that time onward, services rapidly expanded to the vast network we see today. Many of the aspects of TAA’s equipment and expansion of services have been covered in previous issues of Australian Aviation in the In Australian Service articles related to the OC-3,OC-4,OC-6, Viscount, Convair Twins and the de Havilland Dragon, to name just a few. As a consequence, it is not intended to duplicate that information here. However other information has since come to light on the equipment side which is pertinent to this article.

During a discussion with John Watkins, I sought his views on several matters regarding TAA. Of the formation of TAA he said “I don’t think it would have been possible at any other time in our history really to do what was done,to start from absolute scratch an airline which rapidly became a ranking airline. The only thing which made it possible was the wonderful reserve of people, anxious to do a good job in the commercial world,who had been pilots, engine and airframe mechanics in the Air Force. We had every opportunity to choose the best people from a large number of applicants for every job that there was going. People with good aeronautical background although it had not been commercial. If it had not been for that I don’t think that it could have been done. It would not have been done if it wasn’t for the appointment of Arthur Coles as the Chairman by Ben Chifley. Arthur Coles was a most remarkable administrator. He had a gift for being able to identify the key problem at any time and devoting his sole effort to getting the answer to that particular problem. As soon as he had got the answer he would pass it on to the people who were at the right level in the organisation to look after it from there on and he would drop it. Too many administrators won’t let go of the details. He would immediately focus on the next key problem and shift his attention to that. It was a great experience to have worked with him I asked Watkins did he have an idea which aircraft he wanted with which to start TAA. “There was no choice at that time. All we could get, were some of the DC-3s and some of these had been converted and others had been thrown up as military surplus. That was all we could get, apart from four DC-4s which had been ordered by the Commonwealth Government, the best part of a year before TAA was ever formed, obviously with the intention of having them available if and when a national airline was established. It was rather interesting that I had the job of drawing up the specifications for the DC-4s that were to be bought, little knowing that I would get the job of helping to run them once the airline was started. They were the first commercial DC-4s to enter Australia, ANA’s were converted C-54s”.

John Watkins joined TAA in June 1946 and thinks that he was number seven on the staff. “Interestingly enough when I was called in for an interview it was just after Lester Brain had been appointed the General Manager. I had some trepidation being interviewed for a job by Lester Brain because only about 18 months earlier, I had the invidious job of chairing·an accident investigation committee which led to Lester Brain dropping his pilot’s licence. He had crashed a flying boat at Rose Bay when he was at the controls and he should not have been. He accepted full responsibility and it was typical of the character of the man that he certainly did not hold it against me in any way. We just laughed about it when the interview commenced”. Watkins was called into Coles’ office in July 1946 and was told that Lester Brain had recommended that he should be sent over to Santa Monica to handle the acceptance of TAA’s first DC-4. He gave Watkins a talk about the great importance of making sure that every detail of the specification was to TAA’s requirements and that he was sure that Watkins would do a good job. Watkins said he was aware of the great responsibility that was being thrust upon him.

Coles then surprised Watkins by saying, “You may think that is the most important job you are going to do overseas but it’s not. I may not know anything about running an airline yet but I do know quite a lot about commercial business. We are in a competitive commercial business in this airline and we are selling a product – air transport. Now there must be some means of producing a better quality of air transport than is being given by our competition with wartime aeroplanes such as the DC-3 and DC-4. I don’t know what it is but I want you to find it and to come back and tell me what’s available that would give us the edge in the quality of the product we offer. I want you to go to the UK and check with the manufacturers and then visit the factories in the US and find out what is coming up and come back and tell me about it”.

Watkins said of that event, “It was a real challenge and a remarkable opportunity. I went off with Jim Brunkhurst representing the maintenance aspects and Gerry Gerrand covering the radio and navigation side. The trio set off for England in a Qantas Lancastrian and according to their brief, visited several manufacturers. Various good aircraft were in the pipeline but none of them would be available in a reasonable time. The one which looked most likely to come out first was the Airspeed Ambassador but even it was a long way off. In the US there were two short-range inter-city airliners which were of interest, the Martin 2-0-2 and the Convair 240.

Next Issue: The new airline gains momentum and new aircraft. The introduction of Australia’s first pressurised airliner, the Convair 240, ushered in an advantage for TAA that was only matched by the propjet Viscount. The battle to get its first Convairs though was fraught with drama as was the battle to keep the Viscounts. We also trace the role of TAA in developing the highly successful Friendship, all in our November edition – don’t miss it!