Grounded: Compass Airlines

[@nicholasluhman3023]

As a former QF reservations agent and travel agent from the early to mid 90's, this is a very informative and I have to say, sad video. You have done an exceptional job on your research but it is hard to listen to all the hurdles that poor Compass had to deal with and I honestly forgot all of this. She really never had a chance and it really makes the deregulation aviation of the aviation industry of the late 80's and 90's look like a complete farce.

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks Nicholas, it is a shame how things worked out and I do have to wonder would Australia be able to sustain more than two large carriers had the deregulation been done differently?

[@nicholasluhman3023]

@@ExpoAviation Very good question. I as a Kiwi, really wish that NZ had not been allowed to buy AN. Everyone blames NZ but News Ltd left the airline in such a poor state that no one could have saved her.

[@nicholasjohnson6724]

I remember Compass II, they had MD80's, flew one from Sydney to Brisbane. Was a great flight. However, when this failed, I remember seeing a Captain sitting on the front wheel of an MD80, with his head in his hands. Obviously a ferry flight back to the original owners of the plane. A very sad sight. I've never forgotten that sight.

[@PhysicsAirline]

My parents had shares in Compass Mk 1, which entitled them to a free flight, but the airline didn't last long enough for them to redeem it!

[@ExpoAviation]

Ouch, that's very unfortunate :( Did they at least have a stock certificate as a "souvenir" - or bad reminder depending how many shares they had?

[@PhysicsAirline]

@@ExpoAviation They don't remember getting a share certificate, but luckily they didn't have a huge number shares.

[@raymondttompson2638]

Another interesting informative and entertaining video. Love coming across by accident a video I haven't yet seen. Please don't stop what you do, there is a huge wealth of defunct airlines out there. Love it

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you, I really appreciate that :) I've had to slow things down slightly from 2 weeks to 3 weeks between episodes but I've still got plenty of episodes lined up and hopefully will be able to speed things up again soon :)

[@craigjackson2428]

Sir, you do great airline research!!!! I remember Compass, Ansett and Australian. Interesting they are all rendered into the aviation history books for the airlines. I always understood deregulation in the Australian market was extremely tough. You explained why I was difficult for the airline sector. This avgeek is a big fan of your work. Thanks for sharing.

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks Craig, I appreciate that :)

[@nicholasluhman3023]

Agreed

[@Noosa21]

I flew on Dec 3rd 1990 with Compass from Melbourne to Sydney that day. it was great.

[@ExpoAviation]

Cool :)

[@Fuuntag]

Really well done bud, glad to see these are still going. A very detailed, informative, intelligent & objective breakdown.❤

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@the_singingavgeek3433]

I would love one of these videos on Air Australia from 2011-2012

[@ExpoAviation]

Hmm they slipped through my net, I will add them to my list :)

[@mercurybullet6043]

I only ever flew Compass once. Mel-Per-Mel on the A300-600. It was a long time ago but from memory they weren't low cost as we know low cost today. Good meals and ample alcohol. They operated from the international terminal IIRC.

[@ExpoAviation]

Cool! I always like a beer or two when flying (well unless I'm working of course). Yes they were able to offer a lower fare thanks to their lower cost structure, something that most "legacy" airlines just don't seem to be able to do (despite charging more and more for less and less service).

[@scottw2755]

Another airline I didn't know about! Always interesting to watch :)

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks Scott, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@aregularperson7573]

Apparently I have reached the algorithm very well because only 7 minutes in and I like this video very much

[@ExpoAviation]

That's great to hear, thank you :)

[@maxsmodels]

The Australian government's conduct in this matter firmly qualifies as corruption. Sadly there is nothing new or uncommon about such behavior worldwide.

[@ExpoAviation]

Very true, it'll never change either unfortunately :(

[@Rocket-hb6jh]

You can’t entirely blame the government, the second iteration of Compass collapsed because it was a victim of embezzlement and I’m sorry to say despite Brian Grey’s experience, using the A300 in the first instance was just ludicrous. The bastardry of AN and TN was one thing but it wasn’t what killed Compass. I remember they got pushbacks and other services from Qantas who were an international airline only at the time and did not overcharge them, even providing the ground handling at Perth I believe. It eventually took someone with the deep pockets of the Virgin group to get an airline off the ground and even they were dicey for a while finance wise. The country isn’t big enough to support two large carriers.

[@ExpoAviation]

@@Rocket-hb6jh I think it depends on how you look at the root cause, if the Government hadn't handed control of the airport facilities to Ansett & TAA then Compass wouldn't have needed to use the A300 in the first place and could have gone for something more suitable with a higher frequency and lower operating costs. That's why I see the government ultimately creating a problem which AN & TN then took advantage of, that said, I did mention in the video that TAA did at least try to offer some assistance to Compass MkI. I know Qantas did offer some help to Compass with them originally set to do the maintenance on Compass' 767s, ultimately the govt wouldn't allow that and thus they went for the AB6, which as much as I love the AB6 it wasn't suitable. You are right though, it isn't a big enough country to support two large carriers. There was an equilibrium with Ansett being domestic and Qantas being international and when that changed, well we've seen how it went. As much as I prefer a deregulated aviation industry I do feel that Australia was the one place that really needed regulation to keep things in check. It's a tough one :/

[@nicholasluhman3023]

Couldn't agree more! It wasn't deregulation,, it was them trying to make as much money out of TN & QF. It's that simple.

[@billolgaau]

Spot on! I was a Pilot for both Compass Airlines & as for the crew they were nearly all ex Captains from the other two including the F/o's. (I wonder were they came from) 😊

[@AviationCommercials]

Well done! Its been fascinating to learn of airline deregulation around the world with your channel. I had no idea it was so problematic globally. / Side note / I have no Compass postcards :/

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks mate, I like to do my bit for education ;) Glad to throw a bit of a curveball for you too, Christmas card notwithstanding ;)

[@andreharrington]

Once again a great episode! Keep it up?.. 😀👍🏼✈️

[@ExpoAviation]

Thank you :)

[@thomassharp2719]

Well you do a video on Hughes Airwest ?

[@ExpoAviation]

Yes I will be covering Hughes Airwest in the near future :)

[@jacksonschadt7573]

I’ve never heard of this Compass Airlines before. The only one I’ve ever known was the major US regional airline who ceased operations a year ago due to COVID. At least that version lasted a whole lot longer than this Compass.

[@ExpoAviation]

Yeah, my original script said "take a look at Compass Airlines of Australia, not to be confused with Compass Airlines from the US which has recently folded". It does happen sometimes when two completely unrelated airlines use the same name and just like with these two Compass' are quite far apart in both distance and timing, unlike say Kiwi USA and Kiwi New Zealand who both operated at the same time. It is a shame that Compass USA has folded along with several other regional carriers, they have been getting a bad deal for at least the better part of 20 years now at the hands of the majors :/

[@phil4977]

As an Australian-this demonstrates typical Australia

[@holgers5216]

I flew on Compass a couple of times. They were OK.

[@ExpoAviation]

Cool!

[@AlexAviation.]

I herd about this one they had wet lease from Monarch A300B in there fleet which was awesome but they ceased ops after they couldn't keep up competitors in New Zealand or Australia Other great work Expo

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks mate.

[@nicolas2970]

Sadly they never had a fighting chance in hell to make it. Ansett got back what it dealt Compass in the equally balanced Karmic Circle. All said and done I'm sure the CEO's of both airlines managed to walk away with millions and the only ones who suffered and inconvenienced were the consumers and the hard working employee groups:(. I really enjoy your documentaries your knowledge of the Airline Industry and accurate statements from research are refreshing and deserve positive praise . Thank You Sir Expo Aviation

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks Nico, I really appreciate your comment :) Yes, Ansett got their just deserts in the end but as you say, it was the employees and customers who suffered and not the ones in charge, such is the corporate circle of life I guess...

[@ExpoAviation]

@@feedmewellornotatall7677 That's certainly an interesting family history :) I was aware that he had previously been involved in Air Niugini and that prior relationship would have made it easier to hire that A310 so quickly. Having re-read one of my earlier replies I noticed that I missed out how he lost his quite sizeable investment. From everything that I could find out during my research, Grey really was a good one who actually cared about his employees, something which sadly is lacking from the majority of airline executives :/

[@nicolas2970]

@@feedmewellornotatall7677 Thanks for posting very interesting!

[@ExpoAviation]

@@feedmewellornotatall7677 Hi, yes please do :) I just hope that it goes down well :)

[@billolgaau]

@@ExpoAviation we like Brian Grey & he was very approachable. When he flew we had him ride in the Cockpit in a jump seat. After it was gone lots of the ex Compass went to his property for a wake party.

[@johannesbols57]

How was VH-YMB damaged on the ground at Toulouse? Indistrial sabotage?

[@ExpoAviation]

I believe it was just a typical factory type accident which caused some damage (sadly not specified but not enough to stop the aircraft flying for repairs so I think it may have been during the cabin fit out) still, the idea of sabotage does go along with the rest of the Compass story ;)

[@iliveinurcloset]

Nice 👍

[@ExpoAviation]

Thanks mate and by the way, I've not forgotten about Donbass aero, I'm still digging up a few things :)

[@iliveinurcloset]

Thanks 😊

[@antr7493]

Mayor Quimby lol

[@ExpoAviation]

Hehe, "vote Quimby" ;)

[@georgianewman4549]

Please do TAA trans Australian airlines

[@ExpoAviation]

Hi, TAA are on my "to-do" list :)

[@anthonygolding4764]

Now we have Bonza, a new start up airline in Australia. US backing.

[@ExpoAviation]

Cool, I've just looked them up, hopefully they can have a right go of it :)

[@beagle7622]

I was waiting for the Abeles Hawke connection to come up. There is no question this connection was a major reason for the collapse of the original collapse.

[@Mary-kt3vr]

And Bonza went down recently nothing new in Australia

[@duc_busspotting3412]

Yay

[@ExpoAviation]

I hope you enjoy it :)

[@duc_busspotting3412]

@@ExpoAviation I enjoyed it😀

[@ExpoAviation]

Fantastic :)

[@duc_busspotting3412]

@@ExpoAviation :) greetings from Hamburg

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

Bonza next

[@ExpoAviation]

We'll have to wait and see on that one :)

[@Jess-fz6km]

Nawww Bob Hawk had his faults, but was a pretty legendary PM

[@ExpoAviation]

Fair enough Jess, I'm on the other side of the world so could only go with the info at hand, hopefully he did have some good qualities :)

[@AngusMacKinnon-xm5ko]

Thank you for a BRILLIANT synopsis on the Compass collapse. I had no doubt Prime Minister Hawke had his filthy fingers all over that one followed by the Lizard of Oz The NUFF NUFF paul keating. I felt sorry for Brian Grey who did his best for Compass and his Staff. I once swore by Ansett and started flying with them when they were Ansett ANA. I had over 100 flights with them, and noticed the degeneration of that company. Ansett turned out to be arrogant in the end that I refused to fly with them. I was delighted when the Ansett BASTARDS crashed and that company went bust.