On Walkabout

The history of Australia’s Qantas Airlines begins much like many good Australian stories with adventurers crossing the Great Australian Outback. The two adventurers this time were Australian Flying Corps officers W. Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinnes.

They were tasked by the Australian Defence Department in 1919 to survey and leave supplies for aircraft participating in an air race across the states of Queensland and the Northern Territory[1]. Their experiences crossing the desolate Outback convinced the two friends that an air service was a more reliable form of transportation to connect the remote communities that resided in this formidable desert.

After completing their expedition the two friends immediately began to seek financial backing for their idea and were able to convince a wealthy cattle rancher they met during their expedition to find investors to fund their idea[2]. The wealthy rancher Fergus McMaster was successful in organizing enough investor to support Fysh and McGinnes’ idea. On November 16, 1920 the dream of these two men, that had been inspired just a year earlier, became a reality when the papers formally creating the Queensland and North Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS) were signed at a Brisbane, Queensland hotel. Unlike other western nations, the country of Australia would end up having a reliable air service across their country before railways or even roads connecting the nation’s cities had even been constructed.

The airline began operations with just two war surplus bi-planes piloted by Fysh and McGinness. In their first year of operations the two pilots transited 871 passengers and flew 54,000 kilometers across the Australian Outback. By 1924 demand for their services had increased to include conducting mail runs. The two pilots purchased a DH-50 with an enclosed cabin which allowed passengers to travel for the first time without a helmet or goggles. That year Qantas would also make history by transporting the Australian Prime Minister S.M. Bruce for the first time on official travel by aircraft. 1924 would also be the first year that Qantas turned a profit by making $2,248 that year[3].

In 1926 the airline would make another Australian first when it produced the first domestically manufactured aircraft in Australia, the DH-50a that was produced under license just for Qantas in Australia. Qantas would also open the first flight school in Australia in 1927 with the opening of the Brisbane Flying School. The following year Qantas’ flight operations would expand even further when the airline signed a contract to provide on demand medical flight services, which became the founding of the Flying Doctors Service[4] that still provides medical flights from remote Australian communities to this very day.

Over the next few years the airline continued to purchase more aircraft and train more pilots to support its ever expanding air routes. The airline once again made an Australian aviation first when in 1935 it became the first airline to conduct an overseas passenger flight between Brisbane and Singapore[5]. The next few years would see Qantas strike up a partnership with the British Imperial Airways, which only further enhanced Qantas’ ability to provide overseas services for its passengers.

However, the peace time days of expansion for Qantas would come to an end when Australia was thrown into the conflict of World War II. During the opening weeks of the war Qantas continued to fly the dangerous route in and out of Singapore providing a vital communications link to the nation during the Japanese onslaught on the island. When the island fell in February 1942 the last Qantas plane on the island was just barely able to escape falling into the hands of the Japanese. By March 1942, of the ten aircraft flying international routes five had either been shot or crashed while conducting unarmed war time service. The remaining five aircraft were recalled to Australia and no more overseas passenger flights were conducted until after the war[6].

However, that didn’t mean that Qantas would no longer conduct overseas flights to help the war effort. In 1943 a daring plan was launched to reconnect an aerial line of communication between Australia and the British Empire when Qantas agreed to fly for the first time a flight between Perth, Western Australia and Sri Lanka. The flight was successful and Qantas would continue with this service for the rest of the war with incredibly not one accident occurring or shoot down of any of their aircraft occurring[7].

After the war Qantas began to modernize their aircraft with DC-3’s and expand their aerial routes. The next post-war decade like much of the western world was boom years for Qantas. Their modernization efforts would see the airline begin for the first time flights to Europe and North America. Their most popular fight between Sydney and London would famously become known as the Kangaroo Route[8].

The proceeding decades would see Qantas continue to expand and modernize to the point to where now they now offer air services around the globe and are equipped with the world’s most modern aircraft to include the brand new A380[9]. Most notably about Qantas is that the airline has never suffered a deadly airplane crash since upgrading to jet airliners with their last deadly crash occurring in 1951[10]. In recent months the airline has had some safety scares[11], but continues to maintain an outstanding safety record overall. Qantas’ safety record is so well known that in the movie “Rain Man” Dustin Hoffman’s character insists he would never fly in a plane unless it was Qantas[12]. While the airline may have a reputation for safety its service image has taken a hit in recent years after various results shows the airline lagging in customer polls[13].

Qantas in recent years had continued to make profits during the rise in oil prices, but the economic down turn has sharply affected the airline. Qantas’ CEO has indicated that the airline is open to merging with another airline in order to continue to stay competitive in today’s global airline industry[14]. In the first six months of 2009 the airline expects to lose $180 million. If business for the airline does not pick up later this year, Qantas may be forced to restructure around its successful JetStar business model and become solely a discount airline[15].

Despite the budget issues, for the future Qantas is still planning to have its fleet of 747’s completely replaced with the ultra modern A380’s by 2013. So without a doubt Qantas is going to look different both physically and possibly organizationally in the future, but should still continue to be the top airline in Australia and one of the most respected around the world.