Last S.P.A.N.Z. Flight

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 22

Last S.P.A.N.Z. Flight

When the first of the three DC3 flights touched down at 12.10 p.m. from Tiimairu only one keen member of the public was on hand to record the event with his camera, and he was a shareholder in the now defunct airline. Of the three flights, only one was full. The other two were two-thirds full.

Originally the general manager of S.P.A.N.Z. (Captain R. D. Daniell) was expected to have flown the DC3 on its last flight. Instead the operations manager and co-found-er of the airline (Captain R. A. L. Anderson) was in command. He said that at present Captain Dinniell was in Perth. “Sentimental Trip” “This has been quite a sentimental trip for me,” said Captain Anderson. “All the areas which we have served have had presentations or farewell gatherings for us. There have been many expressions of regret at our going out of business and no criticism by the shareholders at having lost their equity in the company,” he said. There was no farewell function at Christchurch for the airline, however. Today the National Airways Corporation Will take over the running of two former routes serviced by S.P.A.N.Z. The corporation will fly the Christchurch-Oamaru service, while Mt. Cook Airlines, under charter to the corporation, will fly the Alex-andra-Dunedin service. Future of Staff

Asked what was to happen to the airline’s staff, Captain Anderson said that of the 16

aircrew members eight were to join the National Airways Corporation, three were going to Air New Zealand, one was going to Fiji, while the four remaining, including Captain Daniell, were at the present time unemployed.

As far as the hostesses were concerned, Captain Anderson said each was going their own separate way. Although none had applied to join N.A.C., some were interested in Air New Zealand, he said. The three full-time staff members of S.P.A.N.Z. in Christchurch will as from today be unemployed. In spite of recent events, Captain Anderson said he still thought that had the Government had a policy catering for free enterprise in aviation in New Zealand, S.P.A.N.Z. would have been able to operate satisfactorily within the framework of such a policy. Captain Anderson is joining N.A.C. as a DC3 pilot. The second S.P.A.N.Z. flight of the day, which arrived at 12.50 p.m., returned to Auckland by way of Nelson, the same route as on its southern journey.

The last flight from Auckland left Christchurch at 2.30 p.m. for Invercargill. Today an N.A.C. crew will bring it back to the city, where it will go into N.A.C. workshops to be repainted in the corporation's colours and to receive such modifications as are required to bring it to N.A.C. standards. Masterton Farewell

“Wairarapa is not going to lose its air service when S.P.A.N.Z. stops flying, but the people of the district should insist on having the service they want and keeping it by giving it their support,” said Captain Anderson, addressing a crowd of several hundred who gathered at Hood aerodrome, Masterton, on Sunday afternoon to see the last S.P.A.N.Z. flight leave. Captain Anderson said six years ago he had come to Wairarapa to ask for the money to establish an airline and now none of that money was left and the people of

the district had come to say good-bye.

"The people have done more than has been expected of them,” he said. (The photograph shows Captain Anderson on the steps of the DC3).