Reg Ansett's first commercial enterprise was a one-man taxi service between the Victorian towns of Hamilton, Maryborough and Ballarat. If there was space available on his second-hand Studebaker tourer, the young entrepreneur also carried freight.
The passenger and freight service was extended later that year to include Melbourne. 'Be In Melbourne By 1.30 pm,' said an advertisement publicising the big event. 'An Entirely New Car Service will start operations Monday, 7th December. Cars will leave J. Strangio's National Cafe, 7.30 am daily. Book early. R. ANSETT, Prop.'
But it was aviation that really captured Reg Ansett's imagination and by 1932 he had learnt to fly and acquired his own plane - a De Havilland Gipsy Moth. This was followed in 1935 by a radial-engined Porterfield and a decision by Reg and his brother Jack to compete in an air race from Brisbane to Adelaide.
The race was staged in 1936 and attracted a field of 31. The Ansett brothers won the hotly-contested handicap section and a prize of 500 pounds. It was the most eventful year in the young aviator's life, encompassing not only the air race win but the purchase of a six-passenger Fokker Universal and the formation of Ansett Airways Pty Ltd.
Ansett Airways operated its inaugural service on 17 February 1936 between Hamilton, Victoria, and Essendon Aerodrome, Melbourne. The flight departed at 12.30 p.m. and touched down at 2.15 p.m. A one-way ticket cost two pounds.
On 14 April 1937 Ansett Airways was incorporated in Victoria as a public company and moved its base of operations to the state capital. It was also a period of rapid expansion, which saw the purchase of three 10-seat Lockheed L10B Electras and the introduction of new services to Broken Hill, Sydney and Adelaide.
In its first year of operations, Ansett Airways flew 895,983 miles and carried 12,624 passengers.
Those early years were not without their setbacks, however, the most serious being a fire in Ansett's hangar at Essendon which destroyed four aircraft - including the Fokker Universal. Then came the outbreak of World War II, which virtually halted civilian flying operations.
Ansett survived by servicing war-damaged aircraft operated by the Allied air forces, and manufacturing parts. Its remaining planes were contracted to fly US military personnel around Australia and, in 1942, were pressed into service to evacuate the citizens of Darwin and Broome in the wake of Japanese air raids on both communities.
After peace was declared in 1945, Reg Ansett set about rebuilding his airline by purchasing three Douglas C47s from a US war disposals agency in the Philippines, then converting the aircraft to DC-3s. Each was capable of carrying 28 passengers.
Ansett Airways underwent a name change in 1946 to Ansett Transport Industries Ltd (ATI), mainly to reflect the company's diversification into the hotel business and the expansion of its coach operation. Post-war domestic aviation was increasingly dominated by the newly-established, Government-owned Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) and Australian National Airways (ANA), operating within the framework of the Government's so-called "two airline policy." However, Ansett continued to expand on non-trunk routes not covered by this policy.
In 1957, ANA faced financial collapse and, after borrowing heavily, Ansett purchased the failed company. Ansett obtained further commercial benefit through the passing of The Airlines Agreement Act 1957 which, in effect, gave Ansett-ANA (the name of the combined airline) and TAA the sole right to operate trunk routes in Australia.
Further significant purchases occurred in 1958 - a buyout of NSW-based Butler Air Transport and Queensland Airlines. Ansett-ANA at that time operated a fleet consisting of six DC-6s and DC-6Bs, two DC-4s, 20 DC-3s, two Viscount 700s, eight Metropolitan Convairs, two Sandringham flying boats, a Bristol freighter, and two helicopters.
The Airline Equipment Act 1958 confirmed the two-airline policy and, in addition, required the airlines to maintain balanced fleets and seat capacity through simultaneous aircraft orders and cross-charter agreements, supported by government guarantees for re-equipment purchases.
On 16 October 1964 both airlines took delivery of their first jet aircraft - the Boeing 727-100. This historic event was followed in 1967 by the simultaneous acquisition of their first DC-9s.
By 1969, Ansett-ANA had changed its name to Ansett Airlines of Australia and succeeded in acquiring the total shareholding of MacRobertson Miller Aviation (MMA), which had been founded in 1927. The purchase made Ansett the largest domestic airline in Australia. Other significant purchases in the years that followed included 50 per cent of Diners Club Australia (the shareholding has since increased to 68.2 per cent).
The year 1969 was also notable for the knighthood bestowed on the company's chairman, who thereafter became known as Sir Reginald Ansett, KBE.
There was a major downturn in Ansett's fortunes in 1978 following the collapse of the finance company Associated Securities Ltd in which Ansett had a substantial interest, and the airline became a prime takoever target. Sir Reginald was unable to fight off the most spirited attempt and transport operator TNT and News Corporation emerged as the new co-owners in 1979, with 50 per cent of the shares apiece. Sir Peter Abeles and Rupert Murdoch were named Joint Managing Directors, with Sir Reginald Ansett remaining as Chairman - a position he held until his death on 23 December 1981.
Another name change, Ansett Australia (and livery), was introduced in 1990 on the eve of domestic airline deregulation, which ended more than 40 years of tightly regulated fares, route and capacity controls. A further livery was unveiled in 1994 (the present-day white seven-pointed star in a stylised gold letter 'A') but the name was retained. Following changes to Australia's international aviation policy, the airline inaugurated its first international services in its own right - from Perth, Darwin, Sydney and Melbourne to Denpasar, Bali, on 11 September 1993. Osaka, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Jakarta, Auckland and Seoul were then progressively added to Ansett's international network.
On 1 October 1996 Air New Zealand purchased TNT's 50 per cent shareholding in Ansett Australia; News Ltd became the sole owner of Ansett New Zealand (established in 1987); and Ansett International was restructured giving a 51 per cent shareholding to Australian institutional investors and the balance to Air New Zealand and News Ltd.
A new era in Australian aviation had begun.
This system is managed by Ansett's Inflight Services division, responsible not only for providing tasty and nutritious meals on Ansett's 450 flights per day, but for the quality, style and type of service experienced inflight by domestic and international customers.
Inflight Catering is one of the largest components of the Inflight Services division. Ansett provides an inflight bar and meal service, including snacks and refreshments, on every flight and with 12.3 million meals produced every year, careful co-ordination and planning is needed to ensure every customer on every flight is catered for, and that meals are delivered intact and on time. In addition, much consideration, creativity and flair goes into creating healthy menus which cater for different tastes, needs, religions, and cultures.
Flight Kitchens
Most meals are produced in Flight Kitchens located at or near the major airports. In smaller ports, Ansett employs contractors to cater its flights.
Ansett owns and operates seven kitchens and each is responsible for the preparation and supply of meals to the airline's domestic and international flights, associated regional airlines and, in some cases, to other international airlines.
Located at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin, the kitchens employ over 1,000 people who work in three different areas - food production, cabin services, and administration.
Staff working in food production are responsible for purchasing high quality food products, preparing meals according to Ansett chefs' specifications and those of other airlines, loading meals onto the familiar food trolleys, and delivering meals and provisions to the aircraft. They also maintain strict standards in meal production and ensure that chefs' specifications are always observed.
Cabin Services staff load and unload the aircraft's meal trolleys, prepare provisions, prepare and replenish bars for aircraft use, and strip and clean all catering equipment. They also ensure all the required meals are loaded.
Administration staff maintain the Skycater computer system, prepare staff rosters, and invoice Ansett customers, along with other clerical duties. (See reverse page for more details on Skycater).
Flight Kitchen personnel
Each kitchen employs a Kitchen Manager to manage the overall operation, an Executive Chef who ensures food quality and presentation standards are maintained, and one or more Sous Chefs who work directly under the Executive chef.
A large number of chefs, apprentices, and catering assistants work under the Sous Chefs, while shift supervisors ensure the smooth running of the kitchen over a shift.
Catering for other airlines
Besides servicing all its own domestic and international needs, Ansett Flight Kitchens (at different ports) also cater for a number of Australian regional, and international, airlines. These include: Kendell Airlines, Impulse Airlines, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, Air Vietnam, Britannia, and Royal Brunei Airlines.
Menus
All menus are developed by the Food and Beverage Department at Head Office, Melbourne, and careful planning is involved to ensure that meals are wholesome and nutritious, food presentation is of the highest quality, and that different tastes are catered for.
Ansett has 268 domestic menus, and these are designed with a number of factors in mind: what a customer will expect to eat at a certain time of the day; how a meal might look on the tray; the availability of products in each state; current culinary trends; customers' dietary needs; and how much a meal will cost to prepare. International menus are designed in much the same way, but attempt to anticipate the cultural preferences of customers on a particular flight route.
Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and refreshments, etc are referred to as meal types and the meal type served varies according to the time the service will take place on the aircraft and the length of the journey. Domestic menus showcase fresh Australian produce in light meals and using cold cuts of meat, salads, seasonal fruit and vegetables, and grained breads. International menus make use of Australian ingredients wherever possible, and often incorporate Asian flavours.
Over the course of six months, menus are divided into six menu cycles and rotated through the Ansett catering system so that at each flight kitchen will be working off a different menu cycle to other kitchens. This minimises repetition for frequent flyers and ensures customers don't receive the same meal on their forward and return journeys.
Ansett also offers 17 special meal types, in line with International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards, for customers with religious, medical or cultural dietary needs.
Meal Service times - The following timetable is used by Inflight Services to decide which meal types will be served at a particular time: 0500 - 0830 Breakfast; 0830 - 1200 Morning Tea; 1200 - 1330 Lunch; 1330 - 1800 Afternoon Tea; 1800 - 1930 Dinner; 1930 - Supper.
Skycater
Skycater is a sophisticated multi-function computer system capable of keeping stock records, menu information and recipes, and supplier records. The system matches recipes against the number of customers booked on the aircraft (information it receives from Ansett's computerised Reservations system), and calculates the amount of ingredients required to make the necessary number of meals.
When meals have been prepared, the system automatically checks the amount of food stock the airline is holding. If more products are needed, Skycater will generate a purchase order, fax it to a supplier, record entry of the item by the supplier into Ansett's stores, and update its stock records.
Awards
Continuous improvement of its services and products plays a crucial role in Ansett's day-to-day organisation. Every division of the airline has a strong customer focus, and in Inflight Services this led to worldwide recognition.
In March 1996, the International Flight Catering Association (IFCA) chose Ansett as overall winner of the 1995 Mercury Award for excellence and innovation in an inflight service or product. IFCA also awarded Ansett first place in the Inflight Service category of the competition in recognition of the airline's flight chef service on international Boeing 747 operations. Ansett currently employs 31 Flight Chefs whose role it is to prepare meals for First Class customers during international flights.
Then in July 1996, a survey of 67 top international airlines found Ansett to have the best long-haul business class service and best on-board catering in the world. Conducted by British-based Inflight Research Service, the 1996 World Business Class Survey, described Ansett as the year's "rising star (and star performer)" among international carriers, and voted the airline Best Pacific-based carrier.
A qualitative analysis of airline product and staff service delivery standards, the survey said Ansett's "excellent performance in onboard catering analysis" demonstrated considerable leadership over other airlines, and the airline achieved first place in many categories including meal presentation, quality of food, consistency of meal quality, and overall on-board catering and airport services.
Each year, Ansett Australia serves about 14 million meals on some 140,000 flights.
The airline serves 9.6 million bread rolls, 3.1 million cheese portions, 220 tonnes of lasagne, and 245 tonnes of chicken each year.
Ansett Australia produces a summmer and winter menu plan each year. There are 68 different menu types in each plan: 28 for First Class, 22 for Business Class and 18 for Economy Class. More than 400 recipes are used.
Ansett Australia serves about 90,000 dozen 200ml bottles and 4,600 dozen 750ml bottles of wine to its customers inflight each year.
International Inflight Catering
Ansett International serves 1.2 million meals or refreshments on 3,100 flights per year.
The airline serves 3,700 litres of Dom Perignon, 300kg of Beluga caviar, 275,000 ice-creams, and 400,000 litres of mineral water.
Ansett Australia employs 35 qualified chefs on its international services.
Ansett has over 70 aircraft in its fleet, and employs more than 2,000 flight attendants and 960 flight crew on domestic services, and 400 flight attendants and over 100 flight crew on international services.
Flight Attendants
Flight Attendants are responsible for catering to all the needs of the customer during a flight in a professional, warm, and caring manner. Domestic flight attendants work on aircraft flying within Australia; international flight attendants service Ansett's overseas network.
A critical part of the flight attendant's job is to ensure high safety standards are maintained inflight. Before a journey commences, flight attendants take part in safety demonstrations, nowadays accompanied by a safety video, after ensuring customers are safely and comfortably seated.
Even if there were no meal service on a flight, Ansett is required by law to ensure all flights are crewed by a certain number of flight attendants. Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations require every aircraft to carry one flight attendant for every 36 passengers, so that in the case of an emergency a highly trained professional will be able to carry out safety procedures in a quick, efficient manner. Flight Attendants also serve meals and drinks to customers. Ansett provides a meal service on every flight, and flight attendants are highly trained in food service and wine appreciation.
Job Requirements
Two of the most important assets a prospective flight attendant will have is a warm, vibrant personality, and two years' experience in the hospitality or customer service industry. For international flight attendants, a second language is preferred but not essential. What is essential, both domestically and internationally, is that candidates show warmth, good humour, friendliness, and a genuine interest in being of service to their customers.
Flight attendants must be able to perform under pressure and to tight deadlines, and to effectively communicate both with their colleagues as a team and with all customers.
Pursers/Cabin Managers
The flight attendant team is headed by a team leader or manager. On domestic services, this person is called a Purser, and on international flights, a Cabin Manager. Normally, a flight attendant will have about four years flying experience before he/she can be promoted to a Purser's position. Pursers operate as crew members, responsible for organising the inflight service and supervising cabin crew. They help deliver the meal service to First Class customers while ensuring standards are maintained and customer service is fully carried out. Cabin Managers have a similar role in taking charge of the meal service, but they have a larger Flight Attendant crew to manage.
Training
All flight attendants receive intensive initial training in a range of subjects at an eight week residential training course (seven weeks for international flight attendants) at Melbourne Airport. The course is divided into modules with up to three weeks devoted to safety and emergency procedures and aviation medicine. Other modules include Customer Care, Inflight Service Delivery, General Aviation Regulations, Winning Teams, Interpersonal Skills, Personal Presentation, and Wine Appreciation. Flight attendants also have the opportunity to learn about the special needs of some customers, for example, people who may be visually impaired, on board the aircraft.
Because flight attendants encounter many customers with a variety of cultures over the course of their careers, Ansett also provides training in Cultural Awareness in a module called World of Service. This equips flight attendants with the skills they need to provide a culturally sensitive service, to put their own values aside and respect the different values of our customers. International flight attendants undergo intensive World of Service training.
Flight attendant training is ongoing. Every nine to 12 months, each flight attendant is legally required to undergo revalidation training, a two-day course which refreshes and updates their knowledge of safety procedures, aviation medicine, and Ansett's latest corporate initiatives.
Flight Attendant bases
Ansett's domestic flight attendants are based in seven ports around Australia including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Cairns. International bases are located at Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea.
Languages
International flight attendants speak a wide range of languages including Korean, Japanese, Bahasa Malay, Indonesian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taiwanese.
The Uniform is designed by Peter Weiss and comprises, for females, navy trousers, skirt, jacket, overcoat, and hat with gold trimming. A navy cardigan or vest, navy and white striped or spotted blouse, and white cotton dress with navy spots is also included. For men, the uniform consists of navy trousers, jacket, vest or cardigan, overcoat, white shirts, and navy ties. Accessories, including scarves and cravats, incorporate the blues and gold of Ansett's corporate logo.
Flight Crew
The term "Flight Crew" refers to Captains, First Officers, and Flight Engineers.
Many pilots will have achieved a high standard of flying before joining Ansett, and must have minimum qualifications to be eligible for airline pilot selection. They must satisfy CASA theory examinations for issue of an Air Transport Pilot Licence, and have a Commercial Pilot Licence, a current Command Multi-Engine Instrument Rating, and Year 12 secondary education with passes in English, Maths, and Physics. Candidates must also have flown a minimum of 1,500 hours, but typical entrants are more likely to have achieved 2,500 - 4,500 flying hours before applying to Ansett.
Upon recruitment, trainee pilots undergo a two-week Ansett Pilot Induction Course at the Australian Air Academy, Tamworth, NSW. The aim of the course is to bring trainees together as a team so they reach a common level of knowledge and experience prior to entry into Ansett's mainstream training system.
At Tamworth, subjects studied include the role of the First Officer, checklist management, high speed flying, high altitude meteorology, standard operating procedures, large aircraft systems and aviation medicine. Pilots are also introduced to Ansett's cockpit culture, while Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) helps develop teamwork, situational awareness, and decision-making skills.
After Tamworth, pilots attend Ground School at Melbourne Airport for three to four weeks where intensive training is given in aircraft systems, aircraft performance, weight and balance, electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, and engines for the aircraft type they have been allocated.
Then it's on to about 40 hours of training at Ansett's Flight Simulator Centre. Flight Simulators are sophisticated replicas of aircraft cockpits and Ansett has five - an Airbus A320, a Boeing 737, a B727, a B767-200, a BAe-146, and a generic Flight Training Device (which can simulate anything from a light, single-engine aircraft up to a B737 jet) - located at the Flight Simulator Centre, Tullamarine, Victoria.
Simulators have an important role to play in pilot training. The simulator's hydraulic legs enable it to recreate take-off, landing, acceleration, deceleration, and turbulence, while a visual system attached to the simulator's computer will recreate scenes the pilot is likely to see through the cockpit's windows - night lights at the airport below, headlights on moving cars, and even stars in the sky. During training, air traffic control communication is also simulated, while aircraft malfunctions can be programmed so that pilots are adept in handling many different situations.
In addition, Simulation Technical Officers convert exact models of airports into visual data to be fed into the simulator's computer so that pilots can be trained in take off and landing at specific airports around Australia without ever having to leave the Simulator Centre. After simulator training, pilots commence line (or on the job) training with a Training Captain for about eight weeks. They are then "cleared to line" or qualified as First Officers.
All Ansett pilots begin their flying careers as First Officers, and the type of aircraft they are allocated often depends on their previous flying experience. First Officers act as a support to the Captain, and he or she must work in this job for a minimum of five years before being able to qualify for a command.
On B747s, B767-200s and long range B727s, Captains and First Officers are joined in the cockpit by Flight Engineers play an important role in pre-flight preparation. During flight, the Flight Engineer monitors fuel flow, engine performance, cabin temperature, pressurisation, and electrical systems. All Flight Engineers must complete an engineering apprenticeship to Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME) standard before they can apply for a Flight Engineer's position.
The airline installed its first mainframe accounting system in 1967, followed in 1973 by its first real-time reservations system, Ansamatic. This system has been constantly refined over the years, and in 1991 was replaced with a more sophisticated model, called Merlin.
The Data Centre
Ansett operates its principle data centre in suburban Melbourne with a secondary centre located at the airline's head office, Swanston Street. The primary purpose-built data centre opened in 1981 and houses some of the most sophisticated computer equipment in the world, and staff work round the clock to monitor and manage systems located at hundreds of sites around the network. The airline's mainframe systems reside on IBM and Hitachi hardware systems, while mid-range processors operate using Hewlett Packard (Unix) and Tandem equipment.
In recent years, the emergence of the personal computer (PC) has had a major impact on the way Ansett operates its business. Ansett has about 4500 PCs installed throughout its divisions.
Ansett uses the latest technology to store company information. Relational databases are used in mainframe, mid-range and desktop environments. These data warehousing and decision-support initiatives aim to ensure that all staff have easy access to the information they need to perform their jobs effectively. Some of the major systems supported are:
Merlin
One of the most sophisticated passenger service systems in the world, Merlin handles all flight schedule and seat availability information, air fares, bookings, international and domestic ticketing, flight information, and information on ancillary services such as ground transport and accommodation. The system is also connected to eight global distribution systems, or GDSs, allowing over 50,000 travel agencies in Australia and around the world to access and book Ansett flights.
Ansett's domestic reservations centres are connected to Merlin using a PC-based system called Qik-Res. Introduced in 1991 and updated to a Windows environment in 1996, Qik-Res is an easy-to-use interface which enables the Reservations Sales Agent (RSA) to offer a faster booking service to customers while also allowing them to concentrate on selling the business. All 960 RSAs access Merlin through Qik-Res.
Ansett introduced a major new feature to Merlin earlier this year in the form of an Interactive Voice Response system which allows customers to directly communicate with the airline's mainframe computer. The IVR provides customers with up to the minute flight arrival and departure information 24 hours a day which they can access by simply dialling our reservations telephone number and following a series of simple instructions. The computer-activated voice can tell them the status of a flight including delays, cancellations, or early arrivals. More than 700 messages, ranging from one word to full sentences, were recorded before putting the system in place, and these can be combined to provide an instant response to queries.
Meanwhile, Merlin's Departure Control System manages passenger check-in, issues boarding passes and baggage tags, and controls aircraft boarding and aircraft weight and balance functions.
This year, Ansett has streamlined customer processing at its major airports even further through two state-of-the art systems, Automatic Boarding Control (ABC) which tracks customer boarding through magnetic-stripe boarding pass gate readers, and LINK.
Ansett's LINK technology is a world first in simultaneous multi-airline processing, and streamlines check-in procedures for customers originating in Australia and travelling to international ports on more than one airline. The system uses Local Area Network/PC environments to provide Ansett customer service staff at airports direct, instant access to the check-in systems of airlines around the world.
For example, an Ansett employee checking-in a customer who is flying with Ansett to Sydney but who is then connecting to a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles and beyond, can complete the entire transaction through a common format series of graphical screens rather than having to access and understand entries in different airline systems.
In this case, the one system will produce an Ansett boarding pass for travel to Sydney, and a United Airlines-branded boarding pass from Sydney to LA. It will also check the validity of booked flight segments between all the airlines' systems, which ensures accurate seat allocation and baggage processing over the entire journey, before issuing baggage labels to the final destination.
Merlin also provides information to many operational systems for crewing and ground services resource planning and to the airline's Inflight Services department so that it can plan flight catering.
Revenue Management
Ansett's revenue management system, Airmax, and the fares management system, Antares, supported by Merlin, control and maximise airline revenue.
By using state-of-the-art forecasting techniques, Airmax identifies the best mix of high-yield and discount fares on each flight, and then applies the controls required to achieve the best result. Based on historical trends and future demand forecasts, and taking into account likely levels of cancellation etc, the system will recommend fare adjustments to classes of seat. Airmax will identify troughs and peaks in a market, while also allowing the Revenue Management Analyst to produce adhoc reports on route sectors for a given market. Antares is a relational database for fares, and a repository for other data such as airport taxes, and the rules and conditions governing the sale of certain types of fares. When fares are set they are distributed to Merlin to be accessed by the RSA, and to Computerised Reservation Systems (CRS) companies so that Ansett's domestic and international flights can be sold to customers in countries around the world.
Finance and Corporate systems
Ansett's Finance Division has recently introduced two new major accounting systems to provide managers with more up-to-date, timely and accurate finance information. SAP is a client-server system, and replaces core financial systems and up to 30 ancillary systems managing accounts payable and receivable, general ledger, purchasing ledger, fuel and air navigation systems, and fixed assets and treasury. Sales Based Revenue Accounting or SBRA represents an automation of sales accounting and has reduced the paperwork work on Ansett staff.
Flight Schedules
A new schedules planning and day-of-operation system, Skynet, is due for introduction later this year. The system will enhance the way Ansett develops and evaluates its flight schedules to better match customer demand with flight capacity and frequency.
Flight Operations
Several major systems are used to manage the aircraft fleet and crew resources. In 1995, a new PC-based flight planning system, called EAGLE, was introduced which gathers information about proposed flight operations - aircraft data, load information, navigation data, weather etc - and submits the official flight plan to air traffic control.
Schedule integrity is supported by the Flight Analysis System which tracks the punctuality of Ansett flights, while Ansett's 2,000 flight attendants and over 900 flight crew are rostered for duty by Crusader. Crew can access the system for flight assignment information, and they must sign on and off duty using the system.
Those staff are employed in Ansett's Maintenance and Engineering division which has maintenance bases around the network at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide and Perth, and engineers located at most Ansett destinations.
With over 450 flights per day and almost 80 aircraft in the fleet, technical staff work day and night to ensure aircraft are maintained to the highest standards of safety and customer service, and every aircraft undergoes consistent and thorough checks every day of its flying life. During its lifetime, an aircraft will undergo two different types of engineering - Line Maintenance and Heavy Maintenance.
Aircraft Maintenance - a day in the life of an aircraft
Before its first flight of the day, a thorough check, called a preflight, is carried out on each aircraft. Take Ansett's 9th Boeing 767-200, VH-RMO, for example.
Before take off, engineers and flight crew check RMO's on board portable emergency equipment including items such as torches, masks, and fire and oxygen bottles. A fire extinguisher test is carried out by the flight crew in the cockpit, while circuit breakers are reset, intake covers removed, and fuel samples taken. RMO's engine drains are checked, and emergency lighting tested using test switches. Engineers also ensure the video system player is serviceable so that the safety demonstration and inflight entertainment can be aired to customers by Flight Attendants.
In addition, engineers will "walkaround" RMO checking the fuselage, wings, tyres, wheels and brakes, landing gears and doors, vents, engines and thrust reversers and he or she will ensure all access panels, cowlings, filler caps, and hatches are secure. Flight Crew also do a "walkaround" themselves.
Every aircraft also carries a maintenance log which is filled in by the Flight Crew after the flight and which records the performance of the aircraft during flight. Any possible discrepancies are entered and examined by an experienced engineer once the flight lands.
At the end of the day's flying, RMO and all the other aircraft in the fleet undergo a "Receipt of Aircraft" check at the port, again a thorough inspection of the interior and exterior of the aircraft. If it is not undergoing a Service Check or a higher check, the aircraft may remain "on-line", or parked on the tarmac overnight, for a standard general inspection of oil levels, hydraulic systems, tyres, pressure and cabin oxygen.
Line Maintenance
Aircraft undergo different degrees of inspection according to the number of hours they have flown. In general, after every 100 hours flying, aircraft are taken into the hangar overnight where a Service Check and inspection is carried out by Line Maintenance staff (who also service aircraft at the port during the day and carry out the pre-flight checks described above) on engines, electrical and radio systems. Emergency and cabin equipment, doors, wings, tail structure, landing gears, avionic and oxygen systems and other components are also checked.
Overnight Line Maintenance is planned by the Fleet Maintenance/Planning Department which monitors the hours all aircraft in the fleet are flying. This group also arranges through Ansett's Central Operations department to have aircraft in a particular port for their scheduled checks.
Heavy Maintenance
Typically, an aircraft will undergo a major structural inspection program once every year. This is generally known as Heavy Maintenance, and is carried out at either of Ansett's Melbourne or Brisbane bases.
The Heavy Maintenance department undertakes maintenance checks, modifications, and component changes to all the aircraft types in Ansett's fleet. Considering the number of components that goes into making an aircraft, bringing an aircraft into the hangar for Heavy Maintenance is a huge operation.
A number of different departments report to the National Manager Heavy Maintenance. They include Sheetmetal which carries out repairs and modifications to, and manufactures, aircraft parts; Bonded Structures which repairs composite fibre components and interior and exterior panels, and the Life-raft Department which overhauls safety equipment such as life jackets and life rafts. Wheels & Brakes overhauls wheel hubs, tyres and brakes, and carries out Non-Destructive Testing, while Carpenters manufacture various aircraft components. The Cable Room makes flight control cables and fluid pipes, the Window Room is responsible for cabin and cockpit windows, and Painters repaint the fuselage (body of the aircraft), wings, tails, and interior and exterior panels. Co-ordinating the operation of these departments are Controllers and Planners.
Depending on how many hours the aircraft has flown, it will undergo a variety of checks, for example a "P" check, a "1C", "4C", "8C", and "D". These checks are carried out in accordance with the aircraft manufacturers' specifications and along with any Ansett modifications.
Before an aircraft leaves the Heavy Maintenance base after a "major lay-up", a flight readiness check (which ensures the aircraft is ready inside and out for flight) and preflight are carried out, and the Flight Operations will organise for the aircraft to undergo a test flight.
Apprentices
Almost 190 engineering apprentices of both sexes are employed on Ansett's four-year apprenticeship scheme. This highly specialised course provides on-the-job and off-the-job training, the latter of which is done via block release for four two-week periods per year to engineering colleges such as the Aerospace Industry Training Centre, at the Kangan Institute of TAFE, Broadmeadows, Victoria. Most apprentices are trained in Melbourne, and there is no upper age limit on apprenticeship recruitment.
In general, the apprenticeship system is divided into five different streams of training leading to the following qualifications: Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) - Avionics, AME - Mechanical, AME - Structures, Aircraft Mechanic (AM) - Avionics, and AM - Mechanical. Apprentices can also be trained in the trades of Painting, Fitting and Machining, and Electroplating.
Aircraft Maintenance Engineers work on the aircraft, but their work is overseen and certified by a Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME). To become a LAME, an AME must undertake further study and successfully sit the examinations of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Aircraft Mechanics, in general, work on the aircraft's components in Ansett's workshops.
In Avionics, AMEs and AMs service and maintain many of the systems driving modern aircraft including electrical power systems, aircraft instrument systems, autopilots and flight directors, navigation and communication systems, general electrical systems, general indicating systems, and associated electronics.
In the Mechanical stream, engineers work on aircraft structure, engines, landing gears, wheels and brakes, hydraulic, pneumatic and pressurization, systems, flight control and environment control systems. Structures is a highly specialised trade where high-tech materials such as modern aluminium alloys and other metals, fibreglass and carbon fibre are manufactured and used to repair, manufacture, and modify components such as aircraft sheetmetal, bonded structures, flight control surfaces, and the structural framework of the aircraft. The Structures stream also services and maintains survival equipment.
Within Ansett, apprentices gain extensive experience by rotating through different engineering departments. To be considered for an apprenticeship, applicants must have a minimum Year 11 (preferably Year 12) education with passes in English, Maths, and Physics.
Apprentices train under the National Aeroskills Standards (NAS), a national initiative introduced this year to regulate training standards for apprentices across the Australian aviation industry. NAS means that, for the first time, Ansett apprentices undergo on-the-job assessment. They must also keep personal "Industrial Experience and Achievement Journals" to record their technical and academic history.