Trans-Australia Airlines was a government established public service based instrumentality formed in 1946 to serve the people of Australia, charged with creating a unified network of air services.
The first officially recorded, and public, operation took place on the 9th of September, 1946, when a group of VIP's and one paying passenger traveled from Melbourne to Sydney. The Chairman of the ANAC board, Arthur Coles, was informed a paying passenger was on board and his money refunded on arrival in Sydney.
TAA rapidly developed a nation wide network developing new routes and assuming the routes operated by QANTAS in Queensland in 1949, when QANTAS pursued an international operation, and Guinea Airlines operating from Adelaide to Darwin, and at the same time strengthening the operation of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia by supplying both permanent aircraft and pilot and maintenance staff at critical locations.
Initially operating converted Douglas C47 (DC3) and new DC4 aircraft, TAA was first to introduce the Convair 240 in 1948, and in 1954 was the first airline outside Europe to introduce the Vickers Viscount V700 series aircraft showing that TAA was prepared to lead the way with improving air services and the latest aircraft.
This lead was again demonstrated in 1981, and post the 2 Airline Agreement policy which had constricted the airline for 20 years, and TAA introduced the European AIRBUS A300B4, as against the Boeing 767-200 purchased by its competitor, again demonstrating the forward thinking that had always been a significant part of the fleet improvement program. Airbus proved to be the more suitable aircraft for Australian conditions.
In 1986 TAA changed to AUSTRALIAN Airlines, and in 1993 AUSTRALIAN Airlines was merged with QANTAS to provide both domestic and international services in anticipation of privatization of the national airline. Both were owned by the government at this time.
The TAA (Aviation Heritage) Museum
The demise of the name TAA with the name change in 1986, and the merger, meant the domestic network as a separate identity no longer existed. This created the need to save a colourful history of numerous domestic and world firsts that would have otherwise been lost. The amalgamation with the QANTAS operation, and the foresight of a small group of forward thinking employees, commenced to store or recover items that would normally be discarded and lost for all time.
Today, and from small beginnings, the Trans-Australia (aviation heritage) Museum is a collection of over 130,000 items, - from the first credit card issued in 1947 to the simulated cockpit (s) of the Airbus A300B4 (and Boeing 727-200 and DC9-30), along with the internal workings of a ROLLS-ROYCE DART engine - every uniform style from 1946 to 1996, and 30,000 photographs from day 1.
A "walk" through our web site is a worthwhile experience as it identifies the achievements of a once great airline and the contributions it made to aviation in general.
'Happy wandering'.
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The first time a hot meal was served on an aircraft on a domestic service was the 9th September 1946, when scrambled eggs and bacon on hot toast was served to the passengers on TAA's first flight.
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Did you know ?TAA was the first airline to paint the tail of an aircraft with a scene depicting famous areas of Australia - The Queensland resorts and Ayers Rock (Uluaru), and later the first to mount a fixed camera on the tail of an aircraft providing never before seen pictures from ' birds eye view' point.
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Did you know ?TAA was the first Australian Airline and the first domestic airline in the world to be awarded the Cummerbatch Trophy - a much coveted award for operational safety, service efficiency, and passenger performance.
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Did you know ?TAA placed orders for 3 French Caravelle aircraft in 1957 so that it could introduce pure jet aircraft into Australia in 1959, but was directed to introduce Lockheed Electra Mk 2 aircraft and conform to the 2 Airline Policy agreement .
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Did you know ? With the arrival of the Boeing 727-100 in 1964 that the first aircraft to land was Ansett-ANA VH-RME, closely followed by TAA's VH-TJA 'James Cook', and that it was the toss of a coin that decided which aircraft would land first as they had both been delivered on the same day and flew together over the Pacific from America.
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Did you know ?The Trans-Australia Airlines Museum is the only aviation museum dedicated to the preservation of Australia's domestic aviation development, and formally recognises all participants in aviation development in this country. Primarily focusing on TAA and AUSTRALIAN Airlines this collection is unique, and as such is recognised by QANTAS, although it is a private collection.
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