Australia's Lost Airline - Trans Australia Airlines (1946-1992)

[@MATT-xv4bh]

TAA's musical theme came via the American artists "The 5th Dimention" piece 'Up UP and Away'. It was cool flying TAA. Ansett cabin colours and decore on the hand other hand caused me to feel uncomfortable during my flights with them. Bring back TAA... the friendly way!

[@luckygen1001]

I remember those ads of TAA on TV.

[@ivanblakely903]

I enjoyed your video - thanks. My recollection is TAA got the A300 about a year before Ansett got their first B767. On the takeover by Qantas, while the branding was "Qantas" my experience was the ex-Australian (TAA) management became dominant simply from pure numbers within Australia. Not surprising really given the international focussed Qantas folks had little experience running a domestic airline which in terms of daily flight numbers was dominant. For example, I found their frequent flyer program was effectively taken over by the domestic one. While the Qantas international FF program had been very "clubby" based on being invited to the lounge after flying a sufficient distance o/s, the domestic one was based on signing up everyone possible with the hope some future benefit may generate brand loyalty.

[@jackko21]

Only know of taa because when I was a kid we use to sing Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin flew away. Wonder Woman lost her bosoms flying TAA.

[@phil4977]

I remember TAA when I was a child in WA. I flew Ansett a lot in my early working life. I was scheduled on an Ansett flight the day they ended and we all got shuffled down to Qantas to get us to our destinations.

[@Marcus-cz5uu]

I was a part of the TN/QF merger as cabin crew. It was a very exciting time..loved operating on B727.200

[@Michael.Chapman]

An excellent presentation of Au aviation history including TAA-the ‘Friendly Way’. When I was a Boy Scout back in the 1960s we went on an excursion to Kingsford Smith Airport which included touring and sitting on one of TAA’s 727-100s. In the 1990s I was living in Stanmore, Sydney. The noise of the hush-kitted 727s departing to the north was so extreme it felt like the atmosphere itself would rupture-so much, much louder than the old 747 classics or todays A380.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

My father, Noel 1917-1974, who joined TAA in 1946, was a TAA check captain when he died.

[@FelixExplores]

Sad to hear. Im sure he was a AMAZING captain with lots of history to share!

[@michaelflick1177]

Such a shame that TAA, a long established and good airline ceased to exist. Relabelling it Australian abandoned its proud past. Worse was to come when Australian merged with Qantas and then disastrous privatisation without consent slowly bit by bit diminished the work of Qantas itself. Jetstar is truly a second rate airline compared to TAA in its heyday.

[@PeterFruits-hm8rc]

both were owned by the government you idiot , i was there when it happened so get your facts right , it was a government decision for Qantas to take over Australian to cut expenses in Branding such as labels , clothing , vehicle signage , sign writing and paint work i was there to witness all of this take place

[@simprove]

Interesting and informative video. I never got to fly on TAA but have had an association with the airline over the years. My first encounter with TAA was installing the 727-200 flight simulator we had designed at the TAA training centre in Essendon. Great bunch of people to work alongside. Years later, after TAA's demise, I got to work on the ex-TAA A300 flight simulator which had been acquired by an American company to train pilots in Miami. Eventually the old 727-200 sim ended up back in the UK (after a spell in Sweden) and I got another chance to work on it. We worked hard on a plan to get it back in commission but it was not to be and sadly the old sim was scrapped.

[@iannosworthy1529]

A great video. I hope you will do one on Ansett soon!!

[@Alexander_Dunn]

Great work as always, thanks.

[@letsseeif]

Almost overwhelmed. Much of my life was bound up in these airlines and their aircraft.

[@emilyisoffline]

thanks metro for this lovely train video!

[@JordysRailVideos]

Definitely not trains, it's aviation

[@happysmileyface]

Great informative video 👍

[@electro_sykes]

Qantas needs a TAA Retro Livery

[@barryvincentredmond3973]

I recall working as a travel consultant for Australian Airlines at their Sydney head office in Chifley Square.Pre internet.A very different booking system then.!.

[@ansett7272]

Great presentation with diligence. Two Airline policy was great stable . If you can't afford to fly then go by bus or train or drive your car. Ansett Airlines of Australia AN and Trans-Australia Airlines TN were great same schedules at the same time parallel scheduling and fares but is was unique with great service. I was a prominent AN customer. TN was great as well as back up. Both carriers had First Business and Economy on DC9 and B727 jets. Wow! They were the days great service and freedom simpler times and super service. Deregulation 1990 in Australia AN gone and TN gone. Ansett 727.

[@HexifyNC]

thanks for this lovely train video :o

[@servantofgod5642]

Thanks for the memory trip.

[@peterausfranken]

As kids in the time around 1974 we said - TAA = try another Airline😄

[@aussiejohn5835]

We also said :- fly Ansett and chance it 😅

[@robertbarnier45]

This was a fabulous airline. It was a joy to fly in those days. Aussie Bob

[@robertbarnier45]

Loved the Electra & the B727-100. Real aeroplanes. Aussie Bob

[@TazzieTransport]

Good Vid! TAA was good airline, I didn't even know it was bought out by QF Lol

[@desfletch]

Sold off rather than bought out. Thanks , no thanks , to then PM.Paul Keating. Otherwise and admirer of him but furious at the privatisations of QF and the Commonwealth Bank which he initiated.

[@BobbyGeneric145]

Aussies have such a great history. I had a chance to fly for REX as an expat when they needed Saab pilots but I decided against it.

[@peterhodgkinson4775]

The observation that Ansett could not "use" the Caravelle is incorrect. The fact was that the cancellation of TAA's order for Caravelles was due to the bloody-mindedness of old Reg Ansett who despised anything that wasn't American. Protected by the 2 airline policy, he forced TAA to order the greatly inferior L188 Electra which he had chosen for his fleet. So a great opportunity for TAA to introduce the country's first turbojet airliner to domestic routes was frustrated by the malice of a monopolist.

[@thylacineawarenessgroupofa5886]

That was really informative. You should do one on compass airlines too. I know that was stifled by govt bungling like lots of things...

[@garynewton1263]

I heard and read that in the 1970s & 80s TAA & Ansett left Qantas for dead with on flight service and drinks and meals services. Shame all the best companies fail.

[@jimzafiriou7808]

Not even close. TAA and Ansett served drinks and snacks, Qantas served meals. And TAA and Ansett flew domestic, Qantas only flew international till 1992.

[@garynewton1263]

@@jimzafiriou7808 No wrong. I knew many people who said the on board service of Ansett left Qantas for dead in the 1980s. End of story.

[@jimzafiriou7808]

@@garynewton1263 Like what services? You can't compare a domestic airline to an international airline. I flew with Ansett, TAA,and Qantas in the 1980s.

[@iFlyTheWorld]

Ansett’s catering was mostly better than TAA’s from my experience. When they both sold the same fares for the same routes it was the onboard service than differentiated them.

[@garynewton1263]

@@iFlyTheWorld Yes I knew a workmate in the 80s who went to Bali and QLD frequently for holidays and said Ansett was better than QANTAS for service. I'm assuming he meant food, drinks or just better staff? I heard good things about TAA too but in what regard I can't recall. Mind you I took several flights from Melb to Adel around 2011-2013 to visit my Mother due to losing my licence. I had 5 flights with Virgin and 1 flight with QANTAS. The Virgin flights were horrible, narrow uncomfortable seating, rude air hostess's, unruly passengers, no drinks or food. The QANTAS flight was far better; wide seats, some empty seats, better staff, drinks and snacks were offered and no hoarding the passengers on like sardines. Get rid of Virgin & Jetstar and bring back ANSETT.

[@MatthewHarper-wv6pw]

Great video but you need fact checking on the end of service with the 767. It was not the 90’s when they ended. I was working on them on the Darwin ramp in 2003

[@ianspear8796]

No mention of Rex Airlines?

[@revenya9542]

taa POG

[@emilyisoffline]

poggers

[@Yeppo_]

Nice!

[@craigpitts2209]

You didn’t mention Rex……

[@RobertMurphy-sx8lc]

I remember in school we had the joke: "Chance it with Ansett, or Try Another Airline".

[@joelpackett7582]

727 so good Also very much enjoyed very good

[@MetroManMelbourne]

727 aesthetic is very cool

[@Alexander_Dunn]

w opinion

[@rileythedude]

Do you have an email for KZbin related enquires

[@MetroManMelbourne]

Join my discord (linked in my about section)

[@mineyon-ms]

what about now, since ur discord doesnt exist anymore@@MetroManMelbourne

[@johnmaunder1595]

Qantas would be a very different airline today if the merger did not happen. Nearly 3/4 of its profits are generated from domestic and regional services and these were gifted to Qantas by the Keating government.

[@CA999]

Interesting that a Labor government brought in a government own airline and than another Labor government stopped having a government owned airline... So much for sovereignty...

[@garynewton1263]

Another great Victorian company. Like Ansett and Compass.

[@jimzafiriou7808]

Ansett and Compass both went broke.

[@TheHsan22]

fwiw Ansett was bought by Air NZ, and then “went broke”.

[@garynewton1263]

@@TheHsan22 ..........and your point is? I was just saying they were Victorian companies. Both TAA & Ansett actually had better onboard service than QANTAS so proves that the best airlines aren't the ones that survive. Problem is the market in Australia is too small for competition to wotk and to operate so many airlines.

[@TheHsan22]

@@garynewton1263 They became a subsidiary of a foreign airline… perhaps they didnt get the attention they should have. When it was ATI, the airline was the key operating division. Under A-NZ they were secondary to the NZ flag carrier.

[@garynewton1263]

@@TheHsan22 ...........ok...........well, thanks for that. Well I've flown on Virgin several times, once on QANTAS........Virgin is a great example of what's wrong with airlines these days, disgraceful experiences.

[@letsseeif]

On the demise of TAA, ANSETT, ANA, & Ausralian, Howard and 'Sydney interests' have a lot to answer for and they know it.

[@robertbarnier45]

Do Ansett please. Aussie Bob 😊

[@reidlowe2302]

Ah yes the Two Airline Policy……………when planes left on time but if you missed your flight the other airline had you covered, the aircraft were serviced in Australia, apprentice training programs provided skilled employees to maintain the aircraft, and yes we may have paid a bit more for a flight but what was on offer then was far better than todays situation.

[@biggiecheddar8815]

Cuteness overload!!

[@mr.jamster8414]

we had our own Pan-Am?

[@jamesgudgeon4868]

You forgot about MMA 1:10

[@TazzieT]

REX: Exists

[@borisjevic6338]

Lol. Until recently they were exclusively a regional airline that connected regional cities to the major cities, and may I add with Saab 340. Only recently did they start competing on capital city pairs while originally leasing their 737 jets from Virgin.

[@AviationFreekStudios]

Bonza and Airlines Australia

[@ochoch9345]

What about Compass

[@MetroManMelbourne]

Only lasted a few years, pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things

[@MooTransit]

ansett video coming soon

[@joelpackett7582]

Absolutely

[@MooTransit]

@@joelpackett7582 everyone you see everyone you know is gone

[@MetroManMelbourne]

@@MooTransit SHINEEEEEE

[@MooTransit]

@@MetroManMelbourne my script is 20 minutes long at this point

[@RealNotOrrio]

isn't qantas over 100 years old now

[@joelpackett7582]

Yes

[@MetroManMelbourne]

103 i believe

[@Rob-fc9wg]

Second oldest airline in the world.

[@MooTransit]

ok ansett video is done

[@hughmacgregor5435]

The federal government destroyed both TAA and Ansett. They should have kept Qantas and TAA separate. No Australian was going to buy an Ansett ticket over a Qantas ticket. To an Australian Qantas is a comfortable buy. Even today notwithstanding it's now a lousy airline. They still shovel money down the throat of Qantas.

[@MetroManMelbourne]

Qantas is pretty terrible for an economy passenger like myself. Exorbitant fares for not much if at all better service, ancient aircraft. I fly virgin and Rex for a reason.

[@AnimatedStoriesWorldwide]

One could say Trans airlines committed suicide.

[@BobbyGeneric145]

7 million km2 of literally nothing... Made me lol!

[@poisonous_yak9507]

TAA > ANSETT

[@handyandyaus]

Two very different entities

[@servantofgod5642]

Until Hawke and his mate Abeles orchestrated the 1989 pilots strike to bring about deregulation only the upper class could afford to fly.

[@PeterFruits-hm8rc]

this video should be removed as TAA didnot suffer any DEMISE . it was owned by the government as was Qantas so it was a government decision to Re- Brand TAA as Australian Airlines and then Qantas , i was there to see this happen in Dock maintenance 1987 - 1990 so remove this video or i will have you banned

[@gregbell3559]

Ansett much better TAA was aweful

[@servantofgod5642]

Lad, if you are going to cover history you should not add your own erroneous prejudise . Left leaning government ? The left came a lot later Sonny.

[@MetroManMelbourne]

A government that tried to nationalise banking and aviation - as well as its predecessor seeking to establish increased government control over railways, monopolies, corporations, employment and manufacturing - can only be described as left-leaning. I’m also politically left-wing anyway so I don’t know why I would be prejudiced…