MacRobertson Miller Airlines
| MacRobertson Miller Airlines | |
|---|---|
| MacRobertson Miller Airlines (logo) .gif | |
| IATA code : | MV |
| ICAO code : | |
| Call sign : | Miller |
| Founding: | 1927 |
| Operation stopped: | 1993 |
| Seat: | Perth , Western Australia |
| Home airport : | Perth airport |
| Management: | Horrie Miller, Macpherson Robertson |
| Fleet size: | |
| Aims: | Adelaide , Broken Hill , Kununurra , Rottnest Island , nationally, internationally |
| ceased operations in 1993. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
The MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA) is a former Australian airline that existed from 1927 to 1993.
history
In 1919 the pilot Horatio (later Horace) "Horrie" Clieve Miller bought an FK 8 G-AUCF from the British company Armstrong Whitworth and founded the Commercial Aviation Company in Rochester in the Australian state of Victoria , which he registered on October 8, 1920. Seven years later, an Airco DH.9 G-AUTH offered a weekly flight between Adelaide and Mount Gambier .
At the end of 1927, Horrie Clieve Miller founded the MacRobertson-Miller Aviation Co. Pty. Together with the confectionery manufacturer and millionaire Sir MacPherson Robertson. Ltd. ". Registration took place on May 28, 1928.
Initially, MMA operated between Adelaide , South Australia and Broken Hill , New South Wales .
In October 1934, MMA relocated its headquarters to Perth, as it had received an order from the Australian government to operate a north-west line that was previously operated by West Australia Airways.
In 1955 , at the request of the government, the “MacRobertson-Miller Aviation Co. Pty. Ltd. "and" West Australien Airlines Ltd. "to" MacRobertson Miller Airlines Ltd. ". This created an airline network of more than 32,000 km from Esperance in Western Australia to Darwin , the capital of the Northern Territory .
On April 19, 1963, Ansett Transport Industries (ATI) bought 62% and 8% of Miller’s shares through Miller Investments Pty Ltd. held shares of MMA. With 654,716 of 953,314 shares, ATI achieved a total share of 70.49%. The share sale was necessary because the MMA urgently needed financial resources to purchase the new Fokker F27 Friendship and the purchase of additional jet planes.
On June 1, 1963, MMA was renamed “MacRobertson Miller Airline Services” and was incorporated as a division into ATI.
In 1968 the airline took over Ansett's specifications for its own corporate identity, with only the name Ansett being replaced by MMA. The Fokker F28 Friendship as well as all other aircraft, the vehicle fleet and the company letterhead bore the new corporate design from then on .
In 1981, the MMA was again renamed "Airlines of Western Australia". The new color scheme included green and red elements and featured a stylized kangaroo paw , the floral emblem of the state of Western Australia . This design was introduced with the purchase of the new Fokker F28 Fellowship from the 4000 series. Peter Abeles and Rupert Murdoch previously took control of the Ansett Group as part of a restructuring of the local business units.
The airlines of Western Australia were renamed "Ansett WA" in 1984 and again took over the parent company. Shortly before that, the company was also called "Air WA". The BAe 146 was the only machine to carry this name before it entered regular service.
In 1993 Ansett took over this department. As a result, all of the MMA's Western Australian roots were cut. On September 14, 2001, Ansett, one of the oldest airlines in the world, had to cease operations. Due to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 , the passengers canceled their flights and caused the already ailing company to be closed. This bankruptcy had a catastrophic impact on domestic air traffic, most of which was served by Ansett.
fleet
Early aircraft used by the airline included the Avro Anson , De Havilland DH.84 Dragon, and Lockheed Model 10 Electra. The following aircraft were also used:
- British Aerospace BAe 146
- DHC-6 Twin Otter
- Douglas DC-3
- a Douglas DC-9 leased from Ansett Australia
- Fokker F-27 Friendship
- Fokker F28 Fellowship-1000, -4000
- Vickers Viscount ( leased )
Incidents
- On July 1, 1949 ( GMT ) a Douglas DC-3 / C-47A-20-DL of MacRobertson Miller Airlines ( aircraft registration VH-MME ) crashed immediately after taking off from the former airfield in Guildford (Western Australia) and caught fire . The machine was on a scheduled flight to Darwin. All 18 occupants (14 passengers and 4 crew members) were killed.
- On December 31, 1968, the Vickers Viscount 720 (VH-RMQ) leased from Ansett ANA broke in the air. After the right wing was broken off, the aircraft crashed into the jungle 52 kilometers south of Port Hedland Airport ( Australia ) due to a faulty repair . All 26 occupants, 22 passengers and 4 crew members were killed. Trans Australia originally bought the machine.
Trivia
- MMA's Fokker F28 flew the world's longest F28 flight from Perth to Kununurra . MMA's first Fokker F28 was leased from Braathens SAFE from Norway .
- A Fokker F100 with the aircraft registration VH-FKD was initially bought by Air New South Wales, which was also known as Ansett NSW or Ansett Express. Since this has proven to be uneconomical for the lines of Ansett NSW, it was transferred to the MMA. This aircraft returned to Ansett NSW's inventory 12 years later.
- The first Fokker F-27, which bore the aircraft registration VH-MMS , was the 39th machine from the Fokker production. It was the first aircraft that reached 10,000 flight hours. She flew an average of 15 hours a day, 5 days a week, heading for some of the most remote places in Australia.
- The Fokker F28 Fellowship VH-FKA was the first aircraft from the model series to achieve more than 30,000 flight hours. Before she returned to Perth, the New South Wales airline requested her again. After more than 60,000 flight hours, the machine was taken out of service on May 26, 1995 and scrapped at Tullamarine Airport in January 1996 .
- In December 1974 the MMA supported the evacuation from Darwin to Cyclon Tracy with a Fokker F28. An F28-1000 transported 128 people, the majority of whom were children, to Perth. Most of the planes have evacuated 80 people, although only 60 passengers are allowed. The MMA was able to evacuate 1,250 people from Darwin with its F28.
- The local Western Australians affectionately referred to the MMA as "Mickey Mouse Airlines".
- The main street on OpenStreetMap that runs from Perth Airport to Terminal 1 International is named after Horrie Miller.
- The MMA used the names of the Western Australian rivers as aircraft designations. This was also reflected in the last letters of the aircraft registration numbers. The Fokker F-27 had the designation “ RMA S WAN ”, the approval was “VH-MM S ”, another example is the “ R MA ROBE ” with “ VH-MM R ”. The exception was the " VH-MMU ", which was given the name " RMA MABUHAY ". This machine was leased from the Philippine airline and means "welcome" in one of the Philippine dialects.
- The F28 series were named after the regions of Western Australia, examples being Pilbara , Kimberley and Goldfields . The entry "FK" refers to the aircraft manufacturer Fokker. A later model was named after the founder of the airline Horrie Miller.
Web links
- Report of the Aviation Heritage Museum on the MMA (English)
- Information of the Museum of Australian Commercial Aviation on the MMA (English)
- Photographs of MMA aircraft (English)
- Pictures of some flights of MMA (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ £ 2 mil. Air co. formed . In: Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848-1957) . Melbourne, Vic. June 24, 1955, p. 16 ( gov.au [accessed March 6, 2019]).
- ^ Cicada Studio: Aviation Heritage Museum. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (UK English).
- ↑ Cicada Studio: MacRobertson Miller Airlines. Retrieved March 7, 2019 (UK English).
- ^ Accident report DC-3 VH-MME , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 8, 2019.
- ↑ Accident report Viscount 720 VH-RMQ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 14, 2020.
