morno, in a word, the B747.
Entering the Jet Age
Entering the Jet Age
When Gough Whitlam was in China, Qantas was there
Between July and September 1959, ahead of every other airline outside the US, Qantas took delivery of seven Boeing 707-138 jet aircraft. Boeing 707 services to the United States began in July. Two months later the service was extended to London via New York. Sydney-London services via India began in October.
So great were its advantages that Qantas modified its existing 707-138 fleet with the turbo-fans. With the arrival of its first 138B series aircraft, Qantas called its Boeings V-Jets, from the Latin 'vannus', meaning fan. Two more were ordered in 1963.
Four of the new 'B' version of the 707, fitted with revolutionary turbo-fan engines developed by Pratt and Whitney, were purchased in 1961. They offered lower fuel consumption, shorter take offs, larger payloads over longer distances and a faster cruising speed of 960km/h. Range, as always, was of critical importance to Qantas because of Australia's geographical isolation.
Qantas 707
The tail fins of all the 707 airliners were painted red with the V-Jet logo boldly displayed in white.
The Boeing 707 fleet was expanding rapidly. By 1964, 13 of the Boeing 707 jetliners were operating on most Qantas routes and the airline had begun selling its propeller driven aircraft. By March 1966 Qantas' Boeing fleet had reached 19 jets, six of which were the larger 707-338C series. Five more were on order.
In June 1966 Sir Hudson Fysh retired as Chairman of Qantas and was soon followed by the man most responsible for the post-war Qantas expansion, Chief Executive and General Manager Sir Cedric Turner. Captain R J Ritchie, who had taken a leading role in the building up of the fleet and network after the war, became General Manager. Sir Roland Wilson, a Qantas Board member, was the new Chairman.
The Jumbo Jet
In 1966 Qantas decided to standardise its fleet with the larger 338C series Boeing 707. In December the airline opened its luxury 450 room Wentworth Hotel in Sydney adjacent to the company's headquarters in Elizabeth Street.
In the late 1960s Qantas was evaluating an even bigger aircraft, the Boeing 747, soon to be known as the Jumbo Jet. Rather than accept the first 747 model, Qantas decided to retain its 21 707s and wait for the more advanced B series. An initial order for four Boeing 747Bs was placed in August 1967. Although this meant other airlines would operate the wide-bodied jet for nearly two years before Qantas took delivery, the B series had features suited to long-haul operations. It was a new era in air travel and the airline changed its name on 1 August 1967 to Qantas Airways Limited.
The first Boeing 747-238B aircraft went into service in September 1971. Qantas introduced a range of low fares offering travellers charter level prices with the benefits of scheduled services. As the fares represented huge savings, passenger traffic and revenue grew phenomenally despite sharp increases in fuel prices.
In 1974 Qantas established a then world record for carrying the most passengers when it evacuated 673 people on a 747 flight from Darwin after the city was devastated by Cyclone Tracy. The airline flew out a total of 4925 people.