WHBM

Yes, jl. ANA, Australian National Airways, had been the number 1 airline in Australia from the mid-1930s into the postwar era. It was principally owned by shipping interests and was regarded on many sides as rather slackly run, attributed in no small part to its quasi-monopoly. In the late 1940s the government started state-owned TAA to compete, which rapidly developed a better reputation. ANA was squeezed from above by them in trunk service, and from below by an upstart Ansett Airways which started to nibble away at some routes with a few DC3s. In 1957 ANA losses led to the shipping companies putting it up for sale, TAA thought they could just squeeze them out of existence but Ansett came and bought up the larger operation. There was presumably still a lot of customer inertia behind the ANA name, so Ansett-ANA kept the merged name for a surprisingly long time, only moving on to plain Ansett more than 10 years later and well into the jet era.

Following the demise of ANA the government was keen to overcome the issues that had plagued the 1950s, and devised their "two airline policy", where state-owned TAA and private Ansett-ANA were kept effectively the same size by control of aircraft imports. Due to Australian law they could not control routes between states (which are the majority, and certainly all the worthwhile ones), but could control imports. For about 10-15 years TAA and Ansett-ANA provided increasingly similar services which tended, not by regulation but for commercial reasons, to run at the same times; even the few daily departures from Perth Western Australia to the eastern cities were made together. So the Electras, 727s and DC9s were ordered and delivered pretty much at the same time and in the same quantity, all in penny numbers and very tightly controlled.

A word about the Electra. As you can imagine the Vanguard lobbied for this business, but the Lockheed team made a spectacular sales pitch way beyond what Vickers did. The Electra order for TAA, Ansett-ANA, Qantas and TEAL was effectively one large joint order negotiated together.

jrl767

I'm actually seeing two different Boeing 707 routes in the timetable


one was on Saturday via Lima, Bogota, Caracas, Pointe-a-Pitre, and Lisbon

the other was on Wednesday via Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Dakar, and Madrid ... this one appears to have only operated during March

miniliq

Last try for today -- UA "international flight" routing DEN-SLC-BOI-PDT-PDX-SEA-YVR. Equipment DC-7 in an all-coach configfuration.

And I wish I was with jlemon at the OTC in Houston -- I attended it regularly back in the 70s and 80s. Not so many times since then.

WHBM

I reckon this was TWA, who did a low-frequency flight all the way to Bombay (Mumbai today) in the 1960s, while Pan Am served Delhi. Seems strange to have divided the minimal US-India demand of the times between two carriers (three if you include Air India). Pan Am just did it as part of their round-the-world run, whereas TWA had to stretch that far.

Five stops ? Well TWA also served Dhahran in Saudi so they probably stopped there first, and maybe Cairo. I'll guess Paris as well, whereas London is unlikely. Other places I'd have to cheat and look them up. Doubtless on a 707.

Seat 2A

Good job on my bonus questions, jrl and Icecat! AA 72S and Starliner 75 are right on. Gotta go - another plane to catch. Cheers!

WHBM

Alaska Airlines ran a couple of ex-TWA L-1649A Starliners converted to freighters, plus one they bought just for spares, all through the 1960s. Good luck to them with such an expensive-to-run, temperamental aircraft.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Alask...89cbdd3dad437c

jlemon

Ah, WHBM.....I believe you are indeed correct, sir!

Alaska and Hawaii were controlled by the U.S. in 1957....but I think they were still U.S. territories at that time and thus had not yet attained statehood.

I stand corrected!

jlemon

35. Correct! Actual routing was LGA-DCA-BNA-TUL......

37. Yep, it was good old Western! Actual routing was LAX-SAN-MEX operated round trip four days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. WA operated an Electra in an all coach config and promoted the service via this marketing message:

NEW - TO MEXICO CITY! JET-POWERED ECONOMY COACHES

Lowest non-stop fares and lowest jet-powered fares from Los Angeles or San Diego - featuring modern Electra IIs. Fastest economy schedules and complimentary meals! Excursion fare $144.50 Round Trip from Los Angeles or San Diego.

Plus: FAN/JET COACHES - Great budget-wise travel buy & FAN/JET FIESTA FLIGHTS - The ultimate in luxury service!

WESTERN AIRLINES - THE ONLY WAY TO FLY

And what's that Jon Proctor website address, sir?! @:-)

jlemon

19. The Air France schedule I took a look at when I was formulating this quiz item listed the following routing: Santiago (SCL) -Lima (LIM) -Bogota (BOG) -Caracas (CCS) - Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP) - Lisbon (LIS) - Paris (???).

So your answer is correct with regard to the routing and the equipment; however, we are still looking for the specific airport served in Paris.....

jlemon

9. Correct! United listed the equipment as a "DC-7T Coach Mainliner" with the "T" denoting the fact that the big Douglas recip was in an all coach config. And I believe this was the only time that little ole Pendleton, Oregon (PDT) had direct, no change of plane service to an international destination! BTW, Vancouver was the only international destination served by UA on a scheduled basis at this time.

As for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.....well, it was an absolute zoo at times with thousands and thousands and thousands in attendance (OTC is the largest oil & gas show in the world). Hats off to the great folks including test pilots with Sikorsky who greatly assisted us with the manning of our static display and exhibit featuring a brand new Sikorsky S-76D! It was also great to visit with some airline folks at OTC: Lufthansa had an exhibit at the show as did SkyTeam (which was staffed by personnel from Delta, Air France, KLM and Alitalia). And after speaking with the good folks with Delta, they offered to provide me with complimentary elite status!

jlemon

28. Indeed, it was Trans World Airlines operating a Boeing 707! Here's the routing for TWA flight 801: Bombay-Dhahran-Cairo-Athens-Rome-Paris-New York.

jlemon

4. Here's the routing I have for this Avianca flight: Bogota-Caracas-San Juan-Madrid-Paris-Frankfurt. Now, I have to admit: I'm not familiar with "MIQ"! Was this an earlier code for Caracas? And yes, the equipment was a new at the time Boeing 720B! But no, Avianca used another term for the service offered on this and other international flights.....so please guess again!

jlemon

2. Ah, it was not Varig....and the equipment was not a 707......however, you did get the originating city, being Rio de Janiero Galeao (GIG) and one of the stops being Rome (FCO) correct....and the flight did stop at Sao Paulo en route but not at GIG.....plus the same equipment was operated with no change of plane from Rio to Beirut. So please guess again!

jrl767

both AF flights in the timetable I saw operated into Orly (ORY)

jlemon

19. Correct!