50 years since NAC - last flight of the HS748 - first 777 to NZ

The National Airways Corporation (NAC) was formed in 1947 by the first Labour Government by nationalising a number of smaller private airlines and using transport aircraft of the RNZAF.  It was set up to be the statutory monopoly domestic airline, but also short-haul international services in the South Pacific until 1955.  The article from 1997 commemorates 50 years since it was set up, but of course it was merged with the, up till then, international only, Air New Zealand, in 1978. 

NAC reflected a philosophy of central planning of the expansion of domestic airline services across New Zealand, by a state-owned monopoly carrier, which was expected to operate at a modest profit, and accompanied development of airports across the country. It culminated in 1966 when Taupo and Oamaru were added to the network.  

The article paralleled launch of a book by NAC's last general manager, Doug Patterson, who passed away in 1993. It summarises the history of NAC.

26 May 1997 - Evening Post - 50 years since NAC formed

On 13 February 1996, the Dominion noted the last flight of Mount Cook Airline's Hawker Siddeley HS748 into Wellington, as it was replaced by the ATR72.  It also noted the first arrival of a Boeing 777-200ER (of Cathay Pacific) being flown for certification purposes. Boeing 777-200ER would become a frequent visitor to NZ in subsequent years, and Air NZ would acquire a fleet of them and operate them from 2005 to 2021.

Air NZ - NAC Merger to end? (No)

In 1990 Evening Post transport reporter Shayne Currie wrote an article which claimed that the 1978 merger between state-owned domestic airline NAC (National Airways Corporation) and state-owned international airline Air New Zealand was about to be reversed on 1 January 1991. He was clearly mistaken. 

Some of the claims in the article were:

• Air NZ has excessive overcapacity on domestic routes, due to competition.
• Former NAC CEO Doug Patterson claimed that most benefits from the merger did not occur, and the "sole reason" behind the merger was to give Air NZ more sales offices to compete with overseas airlines.  The domestic and international airlines are "completely different types of businesses".
• Former Air NZ CEO Morrie Davis disputes that, saying it was cross utilisation of staff, aircraft and combined marketing and sales, and claims that had Air NZ's competitive culture not been introduced into NAC, NAC would have lost millions during the late 70s and early 80s due to an aviation industry recession and fuel price increases.
• In 1978 Air NZ had 5,200 staff and carried 910,000 passengers p.a. and NAC had 3,500 staff carrying 2.3m passengers p.a.  NAC made a $4m profit and Air NZ a $3.3m profit.
• The merger was meant to generate savings of $10m through rationalising staff, buildings and equipment, improve services, enable international aircraft to operate on busy domestic routes, infuse competitive attitudes in domestic services and increase domestic freight capacity.
• Doug Patterson claims that had NAC been separate it could have "convinced" government to stop Ansett starting Ansett New Zealand because it "would have been able to put to him in a more effective way the consequences of letting Ansett in".

Airlines split from unhappy marriage

NAC Air Freight

 

Are you 'light-headed' about Air Freight?

Think Big Think Heavy

Argosy

NAC Air Freight System

This leaflet was published by the National Airways Corporation before the merger in 1978, promoting air freight, with a big focus on its Safe Air division, for the haulage of larger freight consignments.  The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy aircraft (of which there were only two operated by Safe Air) were able to haul 12,000 kgs and operated between Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.  

NAC focused not just on speed, but also the need for much less packaging and savings on pilferage (a known issue with railways in the 1970s), insurance and warehousing.  The leaflet ends with a complex depiction of the NAC air freight network, which is almost entirely passenger routes (including those by Mount Cook Airlines and Stewart Island Air Services).  Unfortunately for anyone picking up this leaflet, there are no contact details for an NAC Air Freight Representative, so presumably it is for those that are already NAC Air Freight customers?

NAC Airline Review Boeing 737 edition

 

Airline review presents the NAC Boeing 737

Contents page and NAC's Choice

NAC's choice of the Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 for NAC

Boeing 737-200 dimensions

Boeing 737 cross-section and sample cabin

Boeing 737 side view, furnishings and equipment and features

Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine

Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine

Why wing mounted engines for the 737

More on engines

The Boeing Company

The Boeing Company

The 737 under construction

What was the fate of the first Boeing plane?

The Government-owned National Airways Corporation was set up to be the national domestic air carrier with a statutory monopoly, in the mid 1960s it was considering the next generation of airliners. It had the Vickers Viscount as its turboprop main trunk aircraft, the Fokker Friendship F27 was already the turboprop regional route mainstay as it phased out the Douglas DC-3.  NAC was under pressure in the 1960s to order the British made BAC 1-11 as its first jet aircraft, but eventually convinced the Government of the day that it should order the Boeing 737. This was the first Boeing airliner order by a New Zealand Government owned airline.  The Boeing 737 at the time was not considered a great success by Boeing, as sales had been slow for the small jet, squeezed by the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 as a larger competitor (which itself was chosen as the smaller jet for TAA and Ansett in Australia.  NAC ordered three Boeing 737s initially and ended up with eight before merging with Air New Zealand in 1978.  Subsequently, Air New Zealand had a fleet of 10 Boeing 737s, renewing then in the mid 1980s with the 200 Advanced series and in 1998 with the last production series of the 737-300 model (ultimately replaced in 2015 by Airbus A320s.

After choosing the Boeing 737(200 series), NAC produced this special edition of its magazine, airline review. It contains the following interesting information:

• A brief comparison with the economics of the 737 vs. the BAC 1-11
• The cabin width was initially a 3-2 configuration (with the middle seat having a width of 20 inches), in the 1970s this would be come 3-3. Initially NAC was intending to operate 737s with 90 seats, subsequently increased to 115
• Detailed description of the 737 history and design elements
• Boeing 737 diagrams of side, cross section across and sideways and Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofans
• Story of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan
• Why engines for the 737 are wing-mounted? (noting at the time the BAC 1-11, DC-9 and Boeing 727 all had rear-mounted engines, and wing-mounted engines are the norm for almost all jet airliners in 2023)
• Profile of the Boeing Company
• A link to the first Boeing plane and New Zealand.

The Boeing 737-200 was a great success for NAC and Air New Zealand subsequently.  Not visible in this magazine, but the 737 also saw NAC launch a new (and its final) airline livery.