or '''Ansett''' was a major
Australian domestic and international
Airline , flying many passengers around Australia and to many destinations in Asia at its height in
1996 . The airline failed financially in
2001 and the majority of its assets have since been liquidated. The airline operated for 66 years.
The company was started by
Reg Ansett in
1935 as Ansett Airways Pty. Ltd. The business floated in
1937 , and was contracting for the
USAAF during the war. The post-war years were marked with numerous acquisitions, including Australian National Airways (
1957 ). The airline prospered during the second half of the 20th century, especially in the
1980s . However a number of substantial investments performed badly, including a share in the US airline
America West Airlines (which filed for bankruptcy, but survived) and its
Hamilton Island resort (which went into receivership). Ansett also paid millions of dollars for the right to be official airline of the
Sydney 2000 Olympics, an investment generally regarded as unwise. This destabilised the financial position of the company considerably.
One of the most unusual aircraft that was operated by Ansett was the
DC-4 /
C-54 outsized freighter conversion
ATL-98 Carvair . Three of the airlines own
DC-4 s were delivered to the
United Kingdom for conversion by Aviation Traders Limited, the company run by
Sir Freddie Laker as Managing Director.
Air New Zealand , previously a 50% shareholder, acquired full ownership of Ansett in February 2000, buying out
News Corporation . Competition from
Qantas and a succession of start-up airlines, top-heavy and overpaid staff, an ageing fleet and grounding of the
Boeing 767 fleet due to maintenance irregularities left Ansett seriously short of cash. Ansett became a drain on its parent and Air New Zealand itself was ultimately bailed out by the New Zealand Government. It placed the Ansett group into voluntary administration on
13 September 2001 . A day later, the administrator decided that Ansett was not viable and grounded the fleets of Ansett and its subsidiaries Hazelton Airlines, Kendell, Skywest and Aeropelican.
After receiving a federal government guarantee, Ansett resumed limited services between major cities on
1 October 2001 . This was referred to as 'Ansett Mark II'. In November 2001
Melbourne businessmen
Solomon Lew and
Lindsay Fox , under the name 'Tesna', reached agreement to buy most of Ansett's assets. This agreement, although well advanced, collapsed in February 2002. With no other saviours, Ansett ceased operations permanently on
4 March 2002 .
after the airline's collapse in 2001]]
The process of administration of the companies' assets continues to this day with employees receiving .7 million out of entitlements estimated at .4 million (or about 71c in the dollar) and it is expected that another .1 million will be raised. Ansett's administrators, KordaMentha, told creditors that it was unlikely that much more money would be realised, due to the depression of the global aviation industry after
September 11 reducing the value of aircraft from million to million. Some aircraft in heavy maintenance were broken up as it was not cost-effective to restore them to an airworthy state. Most of the
Boeing 767 fleet remained parked at
Melbourne until late
2004 , when they were sold and flown to the United States to be broken up into spare parts.
Currently, Australian business man Terry Byrt is in the process of resurrecting the Ansett Airways name as a local carrier based in
Townsville , Australia. It is planned to fly to Gladstone, Mackay, Hamilton Island, Townsville, Mount Isa, Cairns, Brisbane, and Horn Island. The new airline is supposed to take off November 2005. The company is not affiliated with Ansett Australia.
The Sixth Report to Creditors of the Ansett Group of Companies, provides a general
update to creditors on the status of the administrations as at 31 December 2005. The Administrators have also issued 76 Committees of Creditors’ updates, 40 employee updates and detailed reports to the Commonwealth Government and to representatives of employees.
The Administrators realised $60.5m of assets during 2005. Over 95% of assets, other than aircraft,
have now been realised.
Significantly, the Administrators are now able to increase the net asset realisation estimate by a
further $50.0m from $590.0m to $640.0m as a result of:
• higher than budget assets actually realised to date;
• higher than budget future estimated asset realisations;
• lower than budget costs to date; and
• elimination or mitigation of contingent claims.
The Administrators paid a dividend on 12 December 2005 of $41.1m, being the fourth dividend, as
follows:
• $25.0m to employees, being 12.5% of each employee’s outstanding balance after payment of
the first, second and third dividends; and
• $16.1m to the Commonwealth Government.
Employees have now received $586.3m of the estimated total employee entitlements of $760.0m.
The Commonwealth Government has now received $270.8m of the $384.0m of its total advances.
Ansett Australia was one of the major sponsors of the
AFL , holding the naming rights to the AFL pre-season competition, the Ansett Australia Cup. It was also a major sponsor of Waverley Park/VFL Park. The logo was visible around the stadium.
Ansett was also a Major Sponsor of Australian Cricket, with the Ansett Australia Test Series a prominent fixture of the Australian summer. Ansett's logo (called the StarMark) appeared on all players' training and game shirts, as well as around the boundary and on the field during Test Series.
It was also the sleeve/major sponsor of the
Brisbane Broncos NRL team from 1996-2001
