Ansett Airlines was a major Australian domestic airline that ended up collapsing on 13 September 2001. Along with Trans-Australia Airlines (TAA), it dominated services down under during the latter half of the 20th century.
The history of aviation in Australia is very interesting. Restrictive policies such as the Two Airline Policy, in the name of “competition”, as well as some interesting players make it a story well worth knowing.
Ansett Airlines History Video
After the last video on the airline TWA, this time we have a look at the interesting story about Ansett Australia. This video was made by Ruairidh MacVeigh and runs for a shade over half an hour.
It starts at the beginning of the story but moves through at a decent pace, giving all the pertinent facts along the way. Some of the decisions prior to 1990 are remarkable, such as operating the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-300 at the same time.
From about half way through, we hit deregulation in Australia and some more items that lead to the eventual demise of the airline. Some of it is down to the people running the airline and some seems to be Government regulation.
Eventually the airline went bankrupt and despite attempts to restart the airline, that was that. Either way, many people fondly remember the carrier, not least the former employees.
Overall Thoughts
It is a shame that Ansett Airlines had such bizarre management and ownership, especially during the 1980s. A lot of the wheeling and dealing around the airline seems to have been at the expense of the carrier itself.
When Ansett when under, Virgin Blue was able to rapidly fill the void, as did Qantas. Today the two main airlines in Australia are Qantas and Virgin Australia, with some other minor players such as Rex and the new airline startup Bonza. It will be interesting to see what happens there!
Did you know the story of Ansett Australia? Ever fly them and if so, what were they like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Enjoying the series? Check out the index to all the “Does Anyone Remember…” articles.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image by Daniel Tanner on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
I was a life member “Ansett Golden Winger “ lol. Loved the airline, if i remember right the lounges had snoozing facilities where their was always lots of action. I did a LT membership match with Qantas just before they went under. Best timing ever.
I remember those lifetime subscriptions. They were expensive for the time, but certainly good value overall when you took the long view. Glad to hear you timed that perfectly!! 🙂
If Australian aviation is deregulated, how is it that the ME3 are so severely restricted on the numbers of flights to Oz? Unless I’m missing something that’s protectionism, which is the antithesis of deregulation. What am I missing?
Deregulation only applies to the Australian domestic market. Any airline (even 100% foreign owned) can establish a domestic airline and operate there. Internationally, services are restricted by bilateral agreements, as they are in most countries around the world. That should clear things up, but ask if you need to know anything else.
Ah, dear old Ansett. Another of those non-government-owned underdog airlines of yesteryear. I always rooted for those companies (think UTA, BCal, CPAir etc…) but in the end their fates were pre-destined. ANA however seems to be an exception, having surpassed JAL (formerly government-owned) to become Japan’s biggest player. The Soap Opera of commercial aviation still manages to throw interesting plot twists our way. RIP Ansett, and so many others.
I’d have to agree with you there, as usual! Nobody ever talks about UTA, though BCal and CPAir sometimes get more airtime. I’ll have to winkle some videos out about them for the next ones 🙂
Yes I do! I actually flew on them back in the late eighties. It was a great airline!
I think that was really their heyday, so you managed to get them at their best. They were definitely the number one choice at that time, as far as I heard. Great you got to experience the airline – thanks for the comment too!