Mystery flights

The tenuous nature of regional airline operations was highlighted by the controversy sparked by an August 10 1965 joint announcement from the Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Norman Hent, and the NSW Premier, Bob Askin, transferring from Airlines of NSW to East-West Airlines (EWA) the Sydney-Bathurst-Parkes and Sydney-Kempsey-Forster-Scone routes from October 1 that year. It was anticipated that EWA’s revenue would increase by £210,000 pa and gross operating profit by £50,000 (Australia would introduce decimal currency, replacing pounds, shillings and pence with dollars and cents, in February 1966).

No-one was happy with this move. Ansett strongly objected, “to confiscation of routes for the sole purpose of making a profitable airline more profitable by the compulsory transfer of business built up over the years by another private enterprise airline”.

Don Shand, EWA’s chairman called the plan, “an absolute farce … it makes no contribution to ensuring the longterm continuance of two independent airlines”, and said he would approach the Premier for the allocation of additional routes.

The following day the general manager of Airlines of NSW said the airline may have to cancel an order for a Fokker Friendship for delivery in August 1966 plus a tentative Fokker Fellowship order if its routes were reduced again in 1966.

Early in September 1966 Airlines of NSW ceased services to Coolah, Burren Junction, Collarenebri and Googooga because the route was uneconomic. However, the service was then resumed after talks with the state government. It was a difficult situation with the airlines struggling to operate the routes economically and the NSW government keen to retain transport links to country towns.

Against this contentious background, on November 9 1966 this writer ventured to the Mascot Airport office of Airlines of NSW to book a mystery flight. But not just any mystery flight as I explained to the unimpressed person at the counter, I would very much appreciate a mystery flight on a Douglas DC-3. I was told firmly that I was kidding myself as there was no way that the airline would agree to my request. The explanation? “We are trying to popularise air travel and a flight on a noisy, hot and unpressurised DC-3 is not on. There is no way senior management would approve it.”

I tactfully asked if, as a special matter, my request could be referred up the line. I was informed this would be done but it was futile and I should return in the morning to find out my flight allocation.

With no great sense of optimism I returned to the airport to find out the details of my journey. To my great surprise and delight I was offered a flight on a DC-3 to Coolah, Burren Junction, Collarenabri and return. (The aircraft could not land as originally intended at Goodooga because of flood waters at the airfield.)

It was a wonderful flight on DC-3 VH-ANQ, cruising at about 2,000ft over a vista of country NSW with the comforting sound of the Wright Cyclone R-1820-G202A engines purring in the background.

The crew did the lot, when two passengers got off at Coolah, they looked after the stairs and luggage. After Coolah the captain told me a DCA examiner who was to check him out was unable to join the flight, would I like the steak lunch which had been loaded on board for the absent examiner? It was delicious.

It was a great day but the breathtakingly poor economics for the suffering airline were readily apparent. There were two passengers paying normal fares from Sydney to Coolah with no-one else beyond there. On the return flight from Collarenabri there were no passengers, just me on my $8 ticket. So it was a flight from Sydney to the Queensland border on VH‑ANQ with negligible revenue for the airline.

No wonder both major airlines operating intra-state NSW services were struggling to make a profit on routes to smaller towns.

Don Shand told the EWA AGM in December 1966 that, “the transfer of five additional ports from Airlines of NSW in late 1965 was not advantageous because low passenger traffic and short stage distances made the additional air routes uneconomical to operate, even when integrated with other East-West services”.

Airlines of New South Wales was correct in saying the Friendship was more comfortable. I would have several mystery flights in Friendships and the wonderful view through those large oval windows was a delight. But when ex WW2, second hand DC‑3s were operationally and economically unsuitable for some airports on the Airlines of NSW network, brand new Fokker Friendships were even moreso.

With its “low passenger traffic and short stage distances” regional airline operating economics were just as challenging 50 years ago as they are today.

‘No-one was happy with this move. Ansett strongly objected.’