126 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
aids, Canberra Airport, between Melbourne
and Sydney, was open to only two arrivals
an hour, with the airport threatening to close
altogether if bad weather struck. Air traffic on
the east coast continued on a heavily restricted
basis with air traffic control (ATC) using backup
communication systems.
Limited parking space
Sydney-based Qantas, then a purely inter-
national airline, temporarily moved its flights
terminating and originating in Australia
to Melbourne, as did a number of other
international airlines. Qantas and Air New
Zealand jointly chartered special trains to bring
passengers from Sydney to Melbourne, while the
two domestic carriers, Trans-Australia Airlines
(TAA) and Ansett Airlines, resorted to buses.
Taxis and rented cars streamed out of Sydney
towards Melbourne. On October 6 Melbourne
Airport had its busiest day since opening three
years before, with 67 international movements
and total passenger numbers more than double
the usual figures. Qantas alone operated 20
arrivals and 18 departures, with more than
800 passengers arriving by train from Sydney
to catch flights at Tullamarine. The number of
aircraft using Melbourne necessitated recourse to
the unusual step of parking aircraft on taxiways.
By October 8 the DCA had approved a limited
number of Melbourne—Sydney flights. These
took advantage of a technique whereby flying
higher than normal allowed the aircraft to
maintain radio contact with Melbourne ATC
until 100 miles (160km) out from Sydney, when
they would come within range of an operational
radio at Sydney. Ansett and TAA ran several
passenger services each and Qantas was allowed
to operate two services carrying crews.
Melbourne-based aviation historian Gordon
Reid was overseas on his honeymoon when
the strike hit. He recalls, “Our return flight to
Australia was on Pan Am 747 N749PA, which
was operating PA811 [Honolulu—Nandi—
Sydney]; We operated Nandi to Melbourne
owing to the strike. We arrived in Melbourne on
October 9 and the strike ended on October 11”.
After a stressful 30 days on strike, including
the eight-day closure of Sydney Airport during
October 3–11, the technicians agreed to return
to work following an arbitration conference
personally brokered by the Australian Council
of Trade Unions’ President Bob Hawke,
a renowned “fixer” who later became the
RIGHT This unique line-up on Melbourne’s freight
apron shows the three main types then in the Qantas
fleet on the ramp together. From nearest to camera:
Douglas DC-4, Boeing 707 and 747. Qantas retained a
pair of DC-4s for services to Norfolk Island but was in
the process of becoming an “all-747” airline. Beyond
the Qantas line is a pair of Ansett Lockheed Electras.