Sir Reginald (Reg) Miles Ansett (13 February 1909 - 23 December 1981) was an Australian businessman and aviator best known for founding Ansett Airlines one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between 1957 and 2001. He also established a number of other business enterprises including Ansett Pioneer, Australia's leading coachlines, Ansett Road Freight and the ATV-0 television station in Melbourne which later became part of Network Ten. In late 1979, Ansett lost control of the company to Sir Peter Abeles and Rupert Murdoch with Abeles having responsibility for the transport operations and Murdoch taking over the television stations. February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... ATV-10 is the Melbourne Australian Ten Network. ... Network Ten is one of Australias three commercial television networks. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Sir Peter Emil Herbert Abeles AC (1924-04-25–1999-06-25) was an Australian transportation magnate. ... Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch AC, KCSG, (commonly known as Rupert Murdoch) (born 11 March 1931) born in Australia of Scottish and some claim Jewish ancestry, but this is unfounded. ...

Early career

Reg Ansett was born Reginald Miles Ansett in Inglewood on 13 February, 1909. His father owned a garage before World War I when he enlisted in the AIF. After the war, Ansett's father established a knitting factory in Camberwell and Ansett gained qualifications as a knitting-machine mechanic at Swinburne Technical College. Inglewood is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Calder Highway, in the Loddon Shire. ... Camberwell (postcode: 3124) is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the local municipality of the City of Boroondara. ...

However, Ansett went north to work as part of a Northern Territory survey team. On returning to Victoria, Ansett ran a bus service between Ballarat and Maryborough with a second-hand Studebaker. Location of Ballarat in Victoria (red) Ballarat Base Hospital For the electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives, see Division of Ballarat. ... Maryborough is a city in Victoria, Australia, located on the Pyrenees Highway, 70 kilometres north of Ballarat, 166 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, in the Central Goldfields Shire. ...

Ansett Airlines 1936-1946

Ansett obtained a pilot's licence in 1926 (No. 419). However, his ventures into aviation did not start until Victorian Transport Minister Robert Menzies persuaded the Victorian Parliament to pass a bill prohibiting competition with Victoria Railways which meant that the bus service could no longer trade. He started an air service between Hamilton and Melbourne trading under the name of Ansett Airways Pty. Ltd in February 1936. His first aircraft was a six-seat Fokker Universal. Ansett showed good timing as the Federal Government started subsidising airlines. Reg Ansett won the Brisbane to Adelaide air race in 1937. Sir Robert Gordon Menzies KT AK CH QC FRS, (20 December 1894 – 14 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving a total of eighteen and a half years in office from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. ... A locomotive in the Victorian Railways livery Rail transport in Victoria, Australia, is run by a combination of government run railway lines and private concerns. ... Location of Hamilton in Victoria (red) Hamilton () is a city in the Southern Grampians Shire of Victoria, Australia. ...

Reg Ansett listed the company on the Melbourne Stock Exchange in 1937, established his headquarters at Essendon Airport and expanded services to Adelaide and Broken Hill. Ansett brought three Lockheed Electra 10a aircraft causing considerable strain on company finances. Australian National Airways (ANA) made a takeover bid for Ansett which could not afford to pay customs duties on its aircraft and this bid was supported by Ansett's chairman Ernest O'Sullivan. However, Reg Ansett persuaded shareholders to back him and invest more money in the business. Essendon Airport (IATA airport code: MEB) is located at Essendon North, in Melbournes northern suburbs, Victoria, Australia. ... Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1. ... Broken Hill Post Office Royal Exchange Hotel, Broken Hill Broken Hill street, with the Indian Pacific and the actual broken hill visible in the background Broken Hill Broken Hill (31°57′S 141°27′E) is an isolated mining city and Local Government Area in the far west of outback... The Lockheed L-10 Electra was built Lockheed by Lockheed to compete with the Ford Trimotor. ... Australian National Airways was the Australias predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. ...

During World War II, Ansett was forced to abandon all of its regular routes except the route between Hamilton and Melbourne. However, he obtained plenty of charter work especially for the US armed forces based in Australia during the Pacific War. This work ensured that Ansett had plenty of cash after the war. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ...

In 1943, the Federal Department of Civil Aviation released a discussion paper Post-war Reorganization: Proposal Outline of a Plan for Civil Aviation. It led to the passage of the National Airlines Act which established a government owned airline Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) competing on major routes with ANA while other airlines such as Ansett flying on regional routes. This policy became known as the Two-airline policy. Trans Australia Airlines or TAA (IATA TN, renamed Australian Airlines in 1986) was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in 1992. ...

Reg Ansett built an estate at Mount Eliza in 1939 and married Joan McAuliffe Adams in 1944. He had three daughters and two sons including Bob Ansett who founded Budget Rent a Car which became Australia's biggest car rental company. Mount Eliza is a bayside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Smart fortwo rental from Budget Budget Rent a Car is a car rental company that was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, California by Morris Mirkin. ...

Postwar Expansion 1946-1956

In 1946, Ansett Airways became Ansett Transport Industries with successful businesses established in freight and coachlines competing with Government railways which were badly managed. Ansett developed new routes to Canberra via Wagga Wagga and Adelaide via Mount Gambier. Under the two airlines policy, Ansett Airways could not duplicate nonstop services offered by TAA and ANA. During this period, Reg Ansett was highly critical of the two airline policy which restricted the growth of his business. For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... Wagga Wagga (pronounced wogga wogga) is a city in New South Wales, Australia. ... Mount Gambier is a city of 23,282 people 2001 census which is after Adelaide, the largest population centre in South Australia. ...

Both the coachline and road freight businesses were highly successful businesses and by 1962, Pioneer Coaches was running 245 buses throughout the country. In 1956, Ansett established an airfreight business using Carvair nose-loading aircraft. Aer Lingus Carvair loading a car at Bristol Airport, Bristol, England, in 1965 The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair was a Douglas DC-4 converted to carry 22 passengers and 5 front-loaded cars. ...

Ansett was the first Australian airline to move into the package holiday business. In 1947, Ansett started offering services to resorts on the Great Barrier Reef using Catalina flying boats. These services established the Great Barrier Reef as a destination for tourists. Satellite image of a part of the Great Barrier Reef. ... PBY Catalina was the US Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. ...

Takeover and consolidation of ANA 1957-1969

In 1957, Sir Ivan Holyman, who was the principal of ANA, died. Reg Ansett saw an opportunity and bought ANA which he merged with his own airline to form Ansett-ANA. Ansett acquired ANA's fleet of Douglas DC-6's and acquired six Vickers Viscounts in order to better compete with TAA. After the acquisition, Reg Ansett suddenly became a firm supporter of the two-airline policy. It became more restrictive after the passage of the Airlines Equipment Act in 1958 prescribing what aircraft each airline could buy and much else besides. Reg Ansett had advocated the act to stop TAA from buying French Caravelle aircraft which would have been the first jets imported into Australia. The Douglas DC-6 is an aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1959. ... The Viscount was a medium-range turboprop airliner introduced in 1953 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world. ... Trans Australia Airlines or TAA (IATA TN, renamed Australian Airlines in 1986) was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in 1992. ...

During the late 1950s and 1960s, Ansett purchased a number of regional airlines including MacRobertson Miller, Guinea Airways, and Butler Air Transport. Ansett also offered services to New Guinea. In 1964, Reg Ansett would import the first Boeing 727's following a coin toss with the managing director of TAA as to which company would import them first. In 1968, Reg Ansett changed the name of Ansett-ANA to Ansett. By 1969, Ansett had become Australia's leading domestic airline and its market share would rise as high as 55%. The Boeing 727 is a large, single-aisle (narrow-body) commercial jet airliner carrying as many as 189 passengers. ...

Reg Ansett expanded his business interests into television in the 1960s. In April 1963, his Austarama Television company was granted a television license to operate Melbourne's third television station ATV-0 starting constructing studios in Nunawading a few months later. Its first official broadcast was on August 1, 1964. Ansett expanded his television interests to become a major shareholder in Universal Telecasters, licencees of TVQ-0 Brisbane, in 1965 and buying out the station entirely in 1970. ATV-10 is the Melbourne Australian Ten Network. ... Nunawading is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... TVQ-10 is the Brisbane television station of Network Ten in Australia. ... Brisbane (pronounced ) is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

Reg Ansett was knighted in 1969. At that point, he was managing director of Australia's biggest airline and the biggest transport company in the southern hemisphere. Because of its regional services, Ansett was the world's biggest operator of Fokker Friendships. A PIA F27 at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore in January, 2006 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer, Fokker. ...

Challenges in the 1970s

In 1972, Peter Abeles' Thomas Nationwide Transport launched a takeover bid for Ansett Transport Industries. This bid was thwarted with the assistance of Victorian Premier Sir Henry Bolte. This was due to both a longstanding friendship between Bolte and Reg Ansett and that Bolte was keen to save a Victorian company from being taken over by a NSW firm. After Bolte's retirement, he would become a director of Ansett Transport Industries. Sir Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte (20 May 1908 - 4 January 1990), Australian politician, was the longest serving Premier of the state of Victoria. ...

Reg Ansett's views on women in aviation were widely viewed as sexist. He once described stewardesses over 30 as old boilers and claimed that women were unsuitable to be pilots because of their menstrual cycles. In the 1970's, Deborah Jane Wardley took the company to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Board for discrimination. Wardley was a charter pilot who claimed that she was better qualified to be hired than other male pilots that had been hired. Ansett claimed that they hadn't discriminated against her because she was a woman but because she had the potential to fall pregnant. On June 29, 1979, the Equal Opportunity Board ruled in favour of Wardley and directed that Ansett should recruit her at the next intake. In November 1979 Wardley started work but the company tried to find cause to dismiss her before the airline tried to dismiss her.

In late 1979, Abeles and Rupert Murdoch launched a successful takeover of Ansett Transport Industries. Under the new management structure, Abeles and Murdoch would be joint managing directors with Reg Ansett as chairman. Murdoch would take over ATV-0 and merge with TEN-10 in Sydney to effectively give him control of what is now the Ten Network. Abeles would merge the freight operations with TNT and run the airline. ATV-10 is the Melbourne Australian Ten Network. ... TEN-10 is the callsign of Network Tens flagship Sydney station. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... Ten Network logo Network TEN so called because it broadcasts on Channel TEN in most cities, is Australias third but possibly most profitable television network. ...

In 1980, Ansett sold TVQ-0 to a joint venture between petrol company Ampol and Sydney radio station 2SM. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... TVQ-10 is the Brisbane television station of Network Ten in Australia. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, New South Wales, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. ...

Reg Ansett died on 23 December 1981. Ansett would go bankrupt in 2001 following a series of poor management decisions by the Abeles-Murdoch duopoly and later owners Air New Zealand. Respected aviation writer Tom Ballantyne said in 2002: While Sir Reg Ansett laid the groundwork for a national icon, Sir Peter Abeles took it by the scruff of the neck and laid the groundwork for disaster. Air New Zealand (IATA: NZ, ICAO: ANZ, and Callsign: New Zealand) ASX: AIZ NZX: AIR is a major scheduled passenger airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

Reference and further reading

• Adrian Magee, Reg Ansett: Aviation Tycoon, Heinemann Port Melbourne, 1997
• Jon Davison and Tom Allibone, Beneath Southern Skies: Celebrating 100 Years of Australian Aviation Lothian Books South Melbourne 2003
• Australian Geographic, The Australian Encylopædia 6th edition, Terrey Hills, 1996 articles on Sir Reginald Myles Ansett and Ansett Australia

External links

• Official Ansett Australia Administration Website
• The Rise of Civil Aviation to 1970 by Australian Heritage Commission
• Ansett 17 February 1936 - 05 March 2002 History