Preflight

Hilfman, United’s senior vice president of worldwide sales, describes his trip on board the airline’s inaugural Los Angeles-Melbourne flight as a “spectacular ride”.

United flight UA98 took off from Los Angeles International Airport at 2246 local time on Sunday October 26, landing at Melbourne Tullamarine two days later at 0757 in the morning. The airline’s first direct service to Melbourne was operated by its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, a stretched version of the original 787- 8 with 252 seats.

Hilfman says it is a testament to the technological advances – lower cabin altitude, less dry air, improved air filtration systems – of the Dreamliner that passengers do feel less tired after long-haul flights such as those over the Pacific.

“We felt no jet lag coming off that airplane,” Hilfman tells Australian Aviation in an interview.

“That’s a pretty big statement I will admit that.

“When we bought the airplane 10 years ago, that was always what was touted as one of the great benefits and it is true, which is a good thing. ” In addition to the more passenger-friendly amenities on board, United and the 25 other current operators of the Dreamliner have also benefited from the aircraft’s improved operating economics.

Hilfman says data from United’s 787 operations to date show a 20 per cent fuel burn improvementcompared with the aircraft they replaced.

That, in turn adds up to a 20 per cent reduction in emissions.

“So not only is it great for the bottom line from a business perspective, but from an environmental perspective we get a lot of kudos for this,” Hilfman says.

“The economics are critical to any airline and you hope when you buy these new planes they are going to meet all the promises and what were the expectations and thankfully the Dreamliner is clearly living up to that. ” An indication of the 787-9’s performance capabilities came on the inaugural flight.

At 6,883nm (12,748km), United’s Melbourne-Los Angeles service eclipses Ethiopian Airlines’ Addis Ababa to Toronto flight, which comes in at 6,217nm (11,514km), as the longest route with the Dreamliner.

However, the actual distance travelled came in at a little over 7,000nm as the aircraft had to fly around some bad weather.

And even if the flight had met some bumpy conditions, the aircraft’s systems are able to anticipate the upcoming turbulence and adjust the wings to minimise passenger discomfort, Boeing regional director of marketing for North America Kenneth Price says.

“When the turbulence hits the wing, that’s when the passengers feel it, that’s when the airplane absorbs the shock of the turbulence,” Price says.

“The airplane senses turbulence prior to the impact getting to the wing with no input from the pilots, it is completely the airplane doing this on its own, it moves the surfaces on the wing that it has to dampen out the turbulence. ” United has 65 Dreamliners on order – 12 787-8s, 26 787-9s and 27 of the double stretched 787-10.

Hilfman says the airline will look to build its Australian network through frequency and aircraft changes in the period ahead.

In addition to Melbourne-Los Angeles, United also flies from

We wouldn’t be upset if Qantas decided to leave all our markets. DAVE HILFMAN

Sydney to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The airline also offers a twice-weekly service between Cairns and Guam.

“We like the business aspect and the fact that Aussies are very enthusiastic travellers,” Hilfman says.

“In Australia initially I think it is about frequency and gauge in evaluating how we can maximise our performance here. ” United’s entry on Melbourne-Los Angeles apparently prompted Virgin Australia to end its three flights a week on the route in favour of a daily offering from Brisbane.

Meanwhile, Qantas would soon have 10 flights a week from the Victorian capital to Los Angeles, up from seven currently.

United is the only airline to offer direct flights from Australia to San Francisco after Qantas dropped the route in 2011 in favour of starting service to Dallas/Fort Worth and Hilfman says he is delighted with the route’s performance.

“It’s done very well. We wouldn’t be upset if Qantas decided to leave all our markets,” Hilfman says.

While Hilfman says market conditions in Australia are good, United’s decision to swap its Boeing 747-400s to Sydney from Los Angeles and San Francisco to smaller 777‑200s, had helped manage capacity.

That, in turn, had supported United’s revenue per available seat mile “and ultimately the profitability on the route”.

“The fact that we have less seats means we are able to manage the mix of customers a little bit,” Hilfman says.

“You still have really significant demand, but you are able to manage your fares up which for us as a business is a good thing. ” Hilfman says the new Melbourne route, which lands in Los Angeles a little after 0600 local time, offered 37 one-stop connections to the rest of the US, including a late afternoon arrival into New York.

“That extensive network beyond makes all the difference in the world,” Hilfman said.

“We have an advantage frankly over Qantas and some others who are really good competitors and we know that.

“From a selling perspective it has been very popular and we are seeing that opportunity for people to connect to more places. ” Hilfman says there are no current plans to start service from Houston to Auckland, which was first mooted several years ago before being put on the backburner.

However, he said the route had a lot of promise and remained under consideration.

“We’d end up having to work with our Star partner Air New Zealand on that to make that work,” Hilfman said.

“There hasn’t been a lot of conversation lately about it but certainly it is on our radar. ” He paid tribute to Australian and New Zealand tourism bodies and airport operators, who had given the airline a lot of support working in partnership.

“They listen and they are responsive and you can’t say that about every government or tourism entity around the world,” Hilfman said.

Qantas on track for first half underlying profit

Qantas has posted an underlying profit before tax for the first quarter of 2014/15 and is on track for a similar result for the six months to December 31 2014.

The updated guidance was delivered to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Melbourne on October 24 and was unchanged from the outlook Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce presented at the 2013/14 full-year results at the end of August.

The airline posted a $2. 8 billionstatutory net loss in 2013/14, driven by a massive non-cash writedown to the carrying value of its international aircraft fleet.

Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford said the airline group was “well aware of the challenges in the current economic environment, and is responding with both cost reduction and careful capacity management. ” “The group’s domestic earnings recovery will be driven by cost reduction in the short term – positioning the group for strong returns as and when the market picks up,” Clifford told shareholders.

“In addition, the domestic industry is stabilising, with a significant easing of the capacity growth of recent years. ” Meanwhile, Qantas said domestic yields – a measure of average airfares per passenger – across its Qantas and Jetstar operations rose in September.

It was understood that it was the first time since 2012/13 Qantas has reported an improvement in yields in the Australian domestic market.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the industry-wide domestic capacity growth was expected to be flat in the six months to December, down from the airline’s estimate in August of a one per cent increase.

“What’s happening at the moment is Virgin and Qantas are not growing capacity. That is clear,” Joyce told shareholders at the annual general meeting.

“We also think it is very important that we use Jetstar to make sure on the leisure end of the market that we don’t create an opportunity for a carrier like Tiger to come in and then to build up, which was Tiger’s plan originally. ”

Qantas signs 20-year lease on new LAX hangar

In a sign of confidence regarding its Airbus A380 operations, Qantas has signed a 20-year lease for a new maintenance facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The new hangar will include two parking pads capable of taking Airbus A380 aircraft, plus office space and ground support equipment facilities, according to Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) documents tabled at a board of commissioners meeting on October 2.

In addition to the new 5. 7 hectare site, Qantas will also lease one additional A380-capable hangar adjacent to its new maintenance hangar.

Qantas’s current maintenance hangar at LAX, known as the old TWA hangar, was scheduled for demolition in January 2016 to build a dual A380 taxi lane as part of improvements to the airport.

“This hangar was constructed in 1958 and is now substantially obsolete relative to the needs of today’slarge aircraft,” LAWA said.

The airline will have about 150 engineers and 50 other employees based at the new facility.

“It will make LAX the premier centre for A380 maintenance in North America as far as we know,” Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) deputy executive director for commercial development Debbie Bowers told the meeting.

The terms of the lease called for Qantas to invest US$30 million in the new hangar, as well as undertake “non-proprietary” improvements such as retaining walls, utilities installation, airfield lighting and airfield security fencing that would normally be provided by LAWA.

With the changed flying schedule into London and increased utilisation of the A380 – Qantas estimates its double-decker Airbuses are in the air about 14 hours a day – the long layover in Los Angeles represents one of the few big gaps in the schedule for maintenance work.

“Qantas has a significant maintenance presence at LAX because of the importance of this port to our network and the amount of ground time our aircraft have there,” a Qantas spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The majority of Qantas’s operations to Los Angeles arrive in the morning and depart late in the evening.

Virgin says losses narrowing, plans full ownership of Tigerair Australia

Virgin Australia says consumer conditions remain weak as the carrier reported a $59. 1 million statutory net loss in the first quarter of 2014/15.

The airline, which has moved to quarterly reporting of its financial performance, says the underlying loss before tax for the three months to September 30 2014 was $45 million, an improvement of 18. 3 per cent from the prior corresponding period.

Virgin did not provide a comparable figure for the 2013/14 statutory first quarter result in its statement on October 17. The airline said yields in the domestic market were “positive” compared with 2013/14.

Virgin said its share of losses at Tigerair Australia was $11. 6 million in the quarter, up from $9. 7 million in the prior corresponding period “as a result of ongoing subdued consumer sentiment”. The losses from Tigerair Australia were not included in Virgin’s underlying result.

In a separate announcement, Virgin said it planned to buy the remaining 40 per cent of Tigerair Australia that it did not already own from Singaporebased Tiger Airways Holdings for A$1 and take full control of the lossmaking budget carrier.

Full control would give Virgin and Tigerair more flexibility to more closely coordinate their respective networks, with the proposed transaction giving the budget carrier the opportunity for new growth opportunities such as international short-haul routes.

“Given the ongoing subdued consumer demand in the Australian domestic market, the growth of the Tigerair Australia domestic fleet is likely to be reduced,” Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said in a statement.

“Under this proposed transaction, we will benefit from the economies of scale and achieve profitability ahead of schedule by the end of 2016, by leveraging the resources of the wider Virgin Australia Group. ” Tigerair will retain its name through a brand and licensing agreement with Tiger Holdings, and maintain a separate head office in Melbourne.

The Bloomberg news agency reported Virgin chief financial officer Sankar Narayan saying: “This is the quickest way that we can get Tiger on a break-even proposition. ” However, CIMB analysts Mark Williams and Alexander Lu said they remained of the view it would be 2017/18 at least before Tigerair got out of the red. “Given they have already been working together we are not rushing to change our view on Tiger being loss-making until FY18,” the pair wrote in a research note dated October 17.

The analysts said the use of Tigerair aircraft on international destinations, as well as slowing the delivery of new aircraft, would be positive for the whole Australian domestic market.

“VAH management is already flagging slower growth out of Tiger, which we think means they will try to slow the deliveries of Tiger aircraft closer to one per year,” they said.

“With VAH slowing growth in both its Virgin and Tiger brands, the profitability of the overall industry should improve vastly from where it was in FY14. ” Virgin paid $35 million to purchase its initial 60 per cent stake in Tigerair.

Tigerair started flying in Australia in 2007 and has never made a profit in this country as the airline struggled to achieve scale. Its public reputation suffered badly in 2011 when the aviation regulator grounded the airline for six weeks over safety concerns.

The airline currently operates a fleet of 13 Airbus A320 aircraft to 17 Australian destinations.

Tiger Holdings’ divestment of its Australian arm is the latest move from the Singapore-based airline group to deal with heavy losses as a consequence of huge overcapacity in the region, having shut down Indonesia-based Tigerair Mandala and sold its Philippine operations to Cebu Pacific Air in 2014.

The company owned Tigerair Singapore and held a 10 per cent stake in Tigerair Taiwan, which commenced operations on September 26.

It recently signed an agreement to sublease 12 aircraft to Indian carrier Indigo in a bid to find homes for surplus aircraft in its fleet.

Tiger Holdings said in a separate statement the estimated net loss from the sale, which was in the board’s view in the “best interests of the company’s shareholders”, would be S$60. 1 million.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said the deal would strengthen Tigerair’s position in the Australian market.

“This proposal will ensure that Tigerair will have a secure future in Australia,” Osmond said in a statement.

Finally, Virgin Australia is on the lookout for a new chairman, with Neil Chatfield to step down from the board after eight years as a director.

Chatfield, who was appointed a Virgin Australia director May 2006 and named chairman in June the following year, says he will remain on the board until the new chairman comes in.

“After seven years as chairman, having seen through the company’s transformation to a diversified airline group under the leadership of chief executive John Borghetti and the successful completion of the Game Change Program strategy, I believe that now is a good time to transition to a new chairman,” Chatfield said in a statement on October 28.

RAAF Heron lease extended until Triton

six-year, $120 million lease extension that will see two IAI Heron surveillance UAVs remain in RAAF service until the introduction of the MQ-4C Triton from late this decade will ensure unmanned aircraft skills and corporate knowledge are maintained, Defence Minister Senator David Johnston said.

The RAAF currently operates three Herons, two based in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and a third from the Woomera weapons range in South Australia, under a lease arrangement with Canadian firm McDonald, Detwiler and Associates. The Heron already at Woomera will be retained, to be joined by one of the two Afghanistan-based aircraft later this year.

“The additional Heron aircraft will provide greater opportunities for training, and the development of robust tactics, techniques and procedures for operating complex UAS platforms, as well as the integration into Australian airspace,” the Minister said in a statement on October 28.

The approximately $120 million contract extension price-tag includes maintenance, logistics and training services, and facilities upgrades at RAAF Base Amberley. The Minister’s statement said the contract extension “will be funded from within the existing Air Force budget, through a redistribution of tasks and priorities”.

“The retention of two Heron aircraft will help create a robust development program to ensure RAAF is well prepared for the government’s investment in the MQ-4C Triton,” Senator Johnston said.

Orion drawdown begins

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Orion has been scrapped and two more are scheduled for disposal by the end of 2014, Defence has confirmed.

The first aircraft, A9-663, which was the only aircraft in the RAAF’s 19-strong Orion fleet not upgraded under the AP‑3C program, was scrapped on October 20. All 19 Orions are due to be progressively drawn-down through to June 2019.

“The first stage of the disposal activity is the reduction of the fleet from 19 to 16 aircraft,” a spokesperson for Defence told Australian Aviation.

“The retired aircraft provided best value to Defence by being stripped of all useable items as spares.

“Once all of the useable items have been removed, the retired airframes are being reduced to scrap metal by [a South Australian] company. These three aircraft were assessed to have very limited heritage value; future disposal stages will provide for preservation of aircraft with high heritage value. ” The Orion’s maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability is scheduled to be replaced by a mix of manned P-8A Poseidons and unmanned Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Tritons under the AIR 7000 program.

Cobham wins $640m AMSA search and rescue contract

Cobham is acquiring four Challenger 604s for its newly-won SAR contract.

Cobham SAR Services has won a 12-year, $640 million contract to supply and operate search and rescue aircraft for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

The new deal will see Cobham operate four Bombardier Challenger 604 special mission jets modified for search and rescue to be based at three locations around Australia – Perth, Melbourne and Cairns – from 2016. One aircraft will be based at each location, with a fourth serving as an operational spare.

“The future capability will usefaster and longer-range aircraft to provide a similar level of capability to our current service, but using fewer aircraft,” AMSA chief executive officer Mick Kinley said on October 24.

AMSA’s current fixed-wing aircraft SAR capability is provided by Paspaley Pearl Group subsidiary AeroRescue, which operates five Dornier 328 turboprops based in Brisbane and Darwin as well as Perth, Melbourne and Cairns.

AeroRescue will continue to provide SAR services until Cobham takes over the service, with operations due to begin from Perth in August 2016 and from Melbourne and Cairns from late 2016.

Cobham will acquire, own, modify, operate and maintain the four Challenger jets, with modification work, much of which will be undertaken at Cobham’s Adelaide base, to begin later this year.

The new aircraft will be fitted with a range of sensors including a search radar, FLIR, beacon and direction finders, plus satellite communications and a mission management system.

In addition they will feature “highvision” windows and air-operable doors for aerial delivery “for equipment such as life-rafts, satellite phones, food and water to be dropped to a person in distress”, AMSA said.

Similarly-configured CL-604 Multi-Mission Aircraft are in service with the Royal Danish Air Force, used for maritime surveillance and SAR. These aircraft were modified by Canada’s Field Aviation, which has partnered with Cobham in the past on Cobham’s Coastwatch Dash 8 aircraft.

However, “at this time we are not in a position to communicate which partners have been ultimately selected to be on the program,” Peter Nottage, sector president of Cobham Aviation Services, told Australian Aviation in an emailed statement.

“We are working with them now and this should be confirmed shortly. ” The aircraft will be operated by acrew of five – captain, first officer, visual search officer, electronic search observer and aircraft mission coordinator. Aircraft and crews will be on permanent standby to deploy on search and rescue taskings 24 hours a day.

“Building on Cobham’s 30 years of experience in special mission operations around the world, including in Australia, theturnkey solution we will provide to AMSA represents an evolutionary improvement in range capability and speed to incident sites with longer loiter and search time over the search zone,” Nottage said.

“In addition, the Mission Management and Communications System offers technological advantages, including latestgeneration electronic sensortechnology and broadband satellite communications with real-time sharing of streamed video, audio and imagery between the aircraft and AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre, based in Canberra, Australia. ” The 12-year contract also includes three one-year contract extension options, which if exercised would take the full value of the deal to over $700 million.

Air Force reveals Woomera reorganisation

The Woomera range in South Australia will be known as the Woomera Range Complex from January next year, bringing together the Woomera Test Range and the newly established RAAF Base Woomera.

“The reorganisation of the Woomera Range Complex will bring the facility into line with other Defence establishments, and will allow the outstanding work done at Woomera to continue well into the future,” Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown said as he announced changes to the management of the range and associated facilities.

RAAF Base Woomera will include the Woomera airfield, hangars, technical areas and Woomera village.

Borghetti flags two to three new international routes within three years

Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti has flagged two or three new international destinations to the airline’s route network within three years.

“You wlll see us fly to more international destinations over the next three years,” Borghetti told the Tourism and Transport Forum’s leadership summit in Canberra on October 29.

Virgin today operates a limited long-haul network flying five Boeing 777-300ERs between Sydney and Abu Dhabi and from Sydney and Brisbane to Los Angeles. The airlinealso has short-haul international flying with 737-800s to Bali, Phuket, Pacific Island destinations and on the trans-Tasman.

It has long been speculated that Virgin would look to expand its long-haul international network into Asia, but that would require adding additional widebody aircraft to its fleet, or redeploying the 777s or the six Airbus A330- 200s currently used on the important transcontinental domestic market.

Borghetti said Virgin would take a measured approach to any international expansion. “Without giving too much away, there are three basic building blocks to running an international airline,” he said.

“The first is you have got to have a strong presence in your home market and to do that you have to have a good solid base on your domestic network … which we now have.

“The second is to try and establish your brand, in a minor way at least, in as many destinations as you can in new markets, and we’ve been doing that now for the last three or four years through the four alliance partners that we have.

“The third element is, OK, we’ve got a base, we’ve started to get recognition, people know who we are, now let’s start going into new destinations.

“However, caution, many international airlines lose many many millions of dollars moving too fast, and we’re not going to fall for that trick. ”

Skidmore to make listening a priority as he gets set to become CASA’s new DAS

Mark Skidmore says he will make listening a priority as he prepares to start a five-year term as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) new director of aviation safety (DAS).

The retired RAAF Air Vice- Marshal, who was a former F-111 pilot and Air Commander Australia in charge of Air Force operations, was expected to start at CASA before the end of 2014, once some existing commitments are out of the way.

Skidmore says his experience leading the RAAF’s Aircraft Research and Development Unit and its diverse flight test, engineering and electronic warfare elements will stand him in good stead in his new role.

“Leadership in the military has changed a lot from the old days, it is not just ordering people around, it is actually establishing relationships and working with people to set goals and achieve those goals,” Skidmore told Australian Aviation on October 30.

“I took that from ARDU and followed that through to Air Commander Australia and I still believe that is the way to do things.

“Sometimes you can’t always get consensus but at least if people can understand what you are trying to achieve and why, then hopefully they will come along with you on that journey and you can all go forward. ” CASA chairman Allan Hawke said Skidmore brought a wealth of aviation experience to the position.

Dr Hawke said Skidmore had an “outstanding” RAAF career and that he “understands safety is a shared responsibility with the aviation industry and will encourage and support the industry while at the same time ensuring the interests of the travelling public are protected. ” One of Skidmore’s immediate tasks was expected to be implementing the federal government’s response to the Australian Safety Regulatory Review, (ASRR) which was expected to come out before the end of the year. The ASRR report, released in June, described the relationship between CASA and the industry as at times adversarial and said the appointment of a new DAS would be an opportunity for cultural and structural change at the regulator.

Skidmore acknowledged that some in the aviation community had concerns about CASA, but was positive about the general relationship between industry and the regulator.

“My impression is CASA has a good relationship with industry,” Skidmore said.

“There’s obviously mumblings and murmurings around the edges but one of my priorities is to get out, listen to people and find out what some of those concerns are.

“I want to build and enhance the reputation of CASA out there with industry. ” Skidmore, who flies his own Globe Swift classic aircraft, said that as a general aviation private pilot he had “never had concerns about CASA or where it was going”.

“One of the reasons I applied for the position and I am very happy to be taking up the position is because I see an opportunity to lead an organisation that is so critical in regards to the safety of aviation in Australia,” he said.

Meanwhile the head of CASA’s Office of Aviation Medicine (AvMed) says he will step down in 2015.

Pooshan Navathe, who has been CASA’s principal medical officer since March 2008, says the appointment of Mark Skidmore as the new DAS represented an opportunity for change.

“I have decided that it is time that AvMed is led by a different leader,” Dr Navathe said in CASA’s Designated Aviation Medical Examiner November newsletter.

“As we get a new director, it seems appropriate that we renew this area of CASA as well.

“Accordingly I will be moving on from CASA in the new year. ”

Cobham takes delivery of its first Embraer 190

Charter and fly-in/fly-out operator Cobham Aviation Services’ first Embraer E190 jet has arrived in Adelaide.

The aircraft arrived at Cobham Aviation Services’ Adelaide base on November 9, with the aircraft acquired to operate between Perth and Barrow Island.

Cobham announced the acquisition of the Embraerin September, after signing a contract extension with resources giant Chevron to service Barrow Island through to 2020. The contract extension is worth up to $160 million, and will see the aircraft subject to strict quarantine procedures given the area was a Class A nature reserve and internationally important conservation estate.

Cobham has been flying between Perth and Barrow Island since 2010 and currently uses Avro RJ100 aircraft on the route.

The Embraer, previously D-AEMG and flown by Augsburg Airways in Germany, has been placed on the Australian register as VH-NJA.

Skytrans says half its 200-strong workforce may be cut

Skytrans chief executive Simon Wild says the regional carrier is likely to shed about half of its 200-strong workforce once it hands over Queensland government regulated routes to Regional Express (Rex) in the new year.

The airline has earmarked 101 jobs that will have to go once its three contracts with the Queensland government conclude on December 31 2014. Skytrans’ fleet of eight aircraft is also expected to be trimmed back and although it was not clear how many airframes would go at this stage, at least one or possibly two were likely to be withdrawn.

Despite the current difficult situation, Wild says Skytrans has an encouraging future and would continue to operate regular public transport (RPT) services.

“The Queensland Transport contracts was one aspect o

fIt will be a scale-back as we finish contracts. SIMON WILD

our business,” Wild said on November 10.

“We still have a very strong and robust business up here in the north so we will be resizing our business based on our routes in the far north.

“All our own RPT network and services remain and we will continue to operate those indefinitely. ” Wild said management was currently consulting with staff on the extent of job losses at both its Cairns and Brisbane bases.

“About 101 full-time employee positions will probably go,” Wild said.

“Some people are interested in going part-time, others are interested in job-sharing, some are interested in taking voluntary redundancy.

“It will be a scale-back as we finish contracts and depending on what other opportunities arise between now and when we finish those contracts. ” Wild said the loss of those government contracts had also put on hold proposed expansion in south-east Queensland, given those regulated routes “underpin quite a lot of other types of operations”.

Skytrans currently based two Dash 8 Q300s in Brisbane and Wild said those two aircraft were expected to remain operating from the Queensland capital.

Ansett founder enters Australian Aviation Hall of Fame

Six leading figures in Australian aviation, including Sir Reginald Ansett, were formally inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF) on November 8.

A qualified pilot, Sir Reginald began Ansett Airways in 1936 with a six-seat Fokker Universal flying between Hamilton and Melbourne. From those beginnings, the airline grew to over 100 aircraft and served more than 80 Australian and international destinations.

The other five figures inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2014 induction dinner, held at Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga, were: Senja Robey, founding member and past president of the Australian Women Pilots Association; Horace Brinsmead, the first controller of civil aviation in Australia; Harry Hawker, the co-founder of Hawker Aircraft; Col Pay, a pioneer of warbirds, aerial ag and aerial firefighting in Australia, and; Ingo Renner, a four-time world and 19-time Australian gliding champion.

Jetgo to connect Brisbane and Tamworth with direct flights

Jetgo has added a third route to its fledgling regular public transport (RPT) network, with the regional carrier to start service between Tamworth and Brisbane from January 19 2015.

Jetgo obtained its high capacity jet RPT Air Operator’s Certificate in October and was due to launch its inaugural scheduled services Sydney-Roma and Sydney-Gladstone from December 1 using 36‑seat Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft.