‘Year Of The Jet’ For National Airways

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31809, 14 October 1968, Page 13

‘Year Of The Jet’ For National Airways

The year 1968 has been described as the National Airways Corporation’s “Year of the Jet” and it is expected that the introduction today of scheduled Boeing 737 services on the main trunk routes will usher in a new dimension to air travel in New Zealand.

The introduction of the s3m, 90-seater 737 s seems an appropriate way for the airline to mark its 21st year of operations.

The progress made by N.A.C. in the last 21 years illustrates the tremendous advances which have been made in aviation around th* world. Since 1947, airlines have

moved from piston engines to turbines and to pure jets. And the National Airways has followed this proven pattern of development It can be said that the success of NA.C. parallels the introduction of each new aircraft type and is confirmed by the New Zealander’s ready acceptance that flying is the way to travel about his country. The National Airways Corporation has played the principal role in making aviation an accepted part of the New Zealander’s daily life with the result that today New Zealanders are

among the most enthusiastic supporters of air transport of any nation anywhere. More New Zealanders fly than almost any other people in the world. Experimental Flight New Zealanders enthusiastically took to the air in the very earliest days of experimental flight In the years between the First and Second World Wars a number of small commercial airline companies were formed in the Dominion. But it was not until 1948, when an Act of Parliament established the New Zealand National Airways Corporation, tiiat a coordinated and sustained

Dominion-wide effort was made to bring commercial aviation to all parts of the country. Before 1947, when N.A.C. first flew under its own name, there were three companies, each in its own area. Union Airways, Limited, flew the Auckland-Dunedin trunk route with a number of intermediate stops; the Cook Strait Airways, Ltd, linked Wellington in the North Island with Nelson and Blenheim In the South Island; and West Coast Air Travel flew along the narrow strip between the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. Three Companies The N.A.C. directorate bought the interests of the three companies, including their shareholding, aircraft and other assets. The airline's original staff came from Union Airways and from the Royal New Zealand Air Force Transport Squadron. In its early history N-A.C. had a mixed fleet of aircraft which Included Sunderland flying boats, Dakotas, Lodestars, Electra lOAs, de Havilland Dominies and Fox Moths. After the war more Dakotas became available and so N.A.C. decided to standardise on this type for a number of years. With the exception of the Dominies, all aircraft other than the Dakotas were progressively retired. The last Dominie remained with the airline until late in 1963. N.A.C. showed a small financial surplus at the end of its first full year in March, 1948. Labour Short The expansion of N.A.C. began in a period when labour and materials were short. Staff and equipment bad to be housed in inadequate offices and in temporary airfield buildings. And to top it all off the suppliers of spares and components were on the other side of the globe. Because of its expanding fleet of Dakotas it was found necessary to move from Rongotai, only three miles from the heart of Wellington, out to Paraparaumu, 35 miles away. Similarly the Auckland airport was located 18 miles from the city at Whenuapai. In spite of an unprofitable outlook in some areas and three years of loss, N.A.C. had faith in the future of aviation and decided that there would be no lessening of the frequency of services already established. Adequate Profit That this confidence was justified was shown from 1952 to 1962 when the airline showed an adequate profit and did so after paying all the outgoings associated with a commercial enterprise, including interest on capital and income tax. There was a temporary return to unprofitable balances in 1962 and 1963, but by 1964 the corporation once more showed a surplus in its accounts. Between 1950 and 1954, N.A.C.’s services to the Pacific Islands were gradually passed to T.E.A.L., now Air New Zealand. With the withdrawal from schedules outside the Dominion in 1954, N.A.C. was able to concentrate Its entire effort on the development and Consolidation of internal flights and ancillary ground services within the Dominion. Detailed Research In the early 1950 s detailed research began to find the

most satisfactory aircraft to replace the Dakotas. Evaluation continued for six years before it was decided that the Fokker Friendship was the most ideal replacement From 1953 to 1957 air passengers needing to cross Cook Strait did so on Herons which continued in service until the reconstruction of the present Rongotai airport It was in 1956 that N.A.C. decided to buy three Vickers Viscounts for delivery in the following two years. The order was later increased to four and each was named after one of the four main centres. The corporation now has five Viscounts.

Smaller Centres Plans for the development of the new Wellington airport at Rongotai had been co-ordinated to coincide with the introduction of the Viscounts, but delays of reconstruction confined the turbine aircraft to the Christchurch-Auckland and Palmerston North-Christ-church routes, until 1959, when Rongotai opened. The new aircraft were immediately accepted by the air travelling public and N.A.C. enjoyed an upsurge in traffic. To serve the smaller centres where the runways are unsealed the corporation continued to use the Dakotas, replacing these with its fleet of Friendships, of which there are now 11. After much public controversy the corporation made its decision to buy three Boeing 737 twin-jets for its Viscount replacement in preference to the British Aircraft Corporation's 1-11 aircraft and the contract was signed between N.A.C. and the Boeing Aircraft Company in Wellington on July 19, 1967. The corporation believes that due to its greater speed and capacity only three 737 s will be needed initially: although by 1974-75 the jet fleet will have grown to five 7375.