packrat
13th May 2009, 20:58
HARTLEY ELLIS SHANNON
AIRLINE STALWART
7-2-1916 — 6-4-2009
ByJim Eames HARTLEY Shannon, a determined and resourceful executive who was part of the small team that rebuilt Qantas after World War II and brought the airline into the jet era, has died at his home in Hornsby, Sydney, aged 93.
Born in Adelaide, Shannon, who was known as "Shan" throughout his 30 years with the airline had, in fact, worked for the airline for two years before he was officially signed on in early 1945.
Educated at Victor Harbour High School, he joined the Treasury Department and moved to Darwin in 1938, transferring to the Department of Defence the following year. In Darwin, he met Joan McPherson and they were married in Sydney in 1941; she stayed on in Sydney for a time to work, while he returned to Darwin.
Shannon's expertise in defence supply matters saw him seconded to Qantas in 1943 at a time when the airline desperately needed help to keep its wartime operations functioning. He was posted to Townsville for six months during the New Guinea campaign, then back to Darwin in 1944, where he faced his greatest challenge the following year.
With the end of the war only months away, Qantas' then chief executive officer George Harman presented Shannon with two propositions - an offer to join the airline full time, along with the task of re-opening Darwin to full Qantas operations at the end of the war.
Shannon accepted both on the spot but, conscious of the massive challenge ahead of him in a rebuilding the airline's operations in what was left of bomb-ravaged Darwin, he insisted on some high-powered "insurance".
He requested his letter of authority be signed not only by Harman but by the airline's chairman and managing director as well.
"I'll need all the clout I can get," he told Harman, "because I'm going to have to break all the rules."
He recruited a workforce in Sydney and set about what was to be a formidable task. In fact, in those early times between 1947 and 1950, Darwin was to become the biggest Qantas base outside its Sydney hub as aircraft transited back and forth on international and mainland domestic operations.
Simply procuring adequate accommodation for the airline's multitude of functions was a challenge Shannon met with customary vigour. In later years he would boast that while CEO Harman had approval to sign off on up to £500 for a capital expenditure item without board sanction, he (Shannon) had taken over the Hotel Darwin and leased homes for staff and quarters for transiting aircrew, and at one stage bought eight hectares of freehold land at Berima for £8000. Other "opportunities" were quickly grasped.
When Shannon heard Canadian army engineers were pulling out of their construction site and most of their Lend Lease equipment, including tractors and building materials were earmarked for destruction, he "appropriated" about £50,000 worth to the Qantas cause.
By the early 1950s, with Darwin well established as a Qantas port, the Shannons went on to postings at Lae, New Guinea and Jakarta, although when head office suggested he might be needed to help set up Malaysia Singapore Airlines, the precursor of today's Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines, he drew the line; after 10 years in the tropics, it was his turn for more amenable climes.
However, he said his impressive young sales manager in Jakarta would be well suited to the job. Head office agreed and sent Keith Hamilton to Kuala Lumpur; he would go on to be the airline's chief executive.
Shannon got his wish and postings to Honolulu and San Francisco followed before he returned to Australia in 1967.
By then Hamilton was chief executive, and in 1971 he posted Shannon back to San Francisco, with instructions similar to those from Harman in 1945. Shannon was instructed to double revenue from his region within two years, and to oversee the introduction of a daily Qantas 747 service between Sydney and San Francisco.
"And," Hamilton added, "I suspect a few of our people over there are rorting the system a bit with expenses et cetera. Sort them out."
Shannon not only lifted the region's performance but obviously had a long-term effect on those who served with him. Right up until his death, and often at great personal effort, he served as the patron of the Qantas Rorters Club, a gathering of the airline's former executives who served in San Francisco or supported that outpost in some way.
During his time at Qantas, Shannon also played a key role in the introduction of the Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft that were used to operate the airline's first around-the-world service, as well as the arrival of the airline's first jet, the Boeing 707.
He served as manager eastern division in the 1960s, and retired as the airline's director of customer services in June 1975.
His wife, Joan, died several years ago, and he is survived by daughters Wendy, Susan and Robyn, and four grandchildren.
Jim Eames is a former director of Qantas public relations.
AIRLINE STALWART
7-2-1916 — 6-4-2009
ByJim Eames HARTLEY Shannon, a determined and resourceful executive who was part of the small team that rebuilt Qantas after World War II and brought the airline into the jet era, has died at his home in Hornsby, Sydney, aged 93.
Born in Adelaide, Shannon, who was known as "Shan" throughout his 30 years with the airline had, in fact, worked for the airline for two years before he was officially signed on in early 1945.
Educated at Victor Harbour High School, he joined the Treasury Department and moved to Darwin in 1938, transferring to the Department of Defence the following year. In Darwin, he met Joan McPherson and they were married in Sydney in 1941; she stayed on in Sydney for a time to work, while he returned to Darwin.
Shannon's expertise in defence supply matters saw him seconded to Qantas in 1943 at a time when the airline desperately needed help to keep its wartime operations functioning. He was posted to Townsville for six months during the New Guinea campaign, then back to Darwin in 1944, where he faced his greatest challenge the following year.
With the end of the war only months away, Qantas' then chief executive officer George Harman presented Shannon with two propositions - an offer to join the airline full time, along with the task of re-opening Darwin to full Qantas operations at the end of the war.
Shannon accepted both on the spot but, conscious of the massive challenge ahead of him in a rebuilding the airline's operations in what was left of bomb-ravaged Darwin, he insisted on some high-powered "insurance".
He requested his letter of authority be signed not only by Harman but by the airline's chairman and managing director as well.
"I'll need all the clout I can get," he told Harman, "because I'm going to have to break all the rules."
He recruited a workforce in Sydney and set about what was to be a formidable task. In fact, in those early times between 1947 and 1950, Darwin was to become the biggest Qantas base outside its Sydney hub as aircraft transited back and forth on international and mainland domestic operations.
Simply procuring adequate accommodation for the airline's multitude of functions was a challenge Shannon met with customary vigour. In later years he would boast that while CEO Harman had approval to sign off on up to £500 for a capital expenditure item without board sanction, he (Shannon) had taken over the Hotel Darwin and leased homes for staff and quarters for transiting aircrew, and at one stage bought eight hectares of freehold land at Berima for £8000. Other "opportunities" were quickly grasped.
When Shannon heard Canadian army engineers were pulling out of their construction site and most of their Lend Lease equipment, including tractors and building materials were earmarked for destruction, he "appropriated" about £50,000 worth to the Qantas cause.
By the early 1950s, with Darwin well established as a Qantas port, the Shannons went on to postings at Lae, New Guinea and Jakarta, although when head office suggested he might be needed to help set up Malaysia Singapore Airlines, the precursor of today's Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines, he drew the line; after 10 years in the tropics, it was his turn for more amenable climes.
However, he said his impressive young sales manager in Jakarta would be well suited to the job. Head office agreed and sent Keith Hamilton to Kuala Lumpur; he would go on to be the airline's chief executive.
Shannon got his wish and postings to Honolulu and San Francisco followed before he returned to Australia in 1967.
By then Hamilton was chief executive, and in 1971 he posted Shannon back to San Francisco, with instructions similar to those from Harman in 1945. Shannon was instructed to double revenue from his region within two years, and to oversee the introduction of a daily Qantas 747 service between Sydney and San Francisco.
"And," Hamilton added, "I suspect a few of our people over there are rorting the system a bit with expenses et cetera. Sort them out."
Shannon not only lifted the region's performance but obviously had a long-term effect on those who served with him. Right up until his death, and often at great personal effort, he served as the patron of the Qantas Rorters Club, a gathering of the airline's former executives who served in San Francisco or supported that outpost in some way.
During his time at Qantas, Shannon also played a key role in the introduction of the Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft that were used to operate the airline's first around-the-world service, as well as the arrival of the airline's first jet, the Boeing 707.
He served as manager eastern division in the 1960s, and retired as the airline's director of customer services in June 1975.
His wife, Joan, died several years ago, and he is survived by daughters Wendy, Susan and Robyn, and four grandchildren.
Jim Eames is a former director of Qantas public relations.