Last year, Hilton celebrated 100 years in business on Friday, May 31, 2019; British Airways celebrated 100 years in business on Sunday, August 25, 2019; and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines celebrated 100 years in business on Monday, October 7, 2019 — and Hertz celebrated 100 years in business in 2018…
Qantas Airways Celebrates 100 Years Today, November 16, 2020
…and now, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services — which is more popularly known as Qantas Airways — celebrates 100 years in business as of today, Monday, November 16, 2020 as the oldest commercial airline in the world which is still in continuous operation. The airline is also the only one that — normally — flies to every single inhabited continent on earth.
Sunday, November 16, 1919 marks the date of “two veterans of the Australian Flying Corps, Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, together with local grazier Fergus McMaster, founded what would later become the national carrier”, according to this article pertaining to the history of the airline. “This happened just 17 years after the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers, two years after the end of World War One and at the tail end of the last major global pandemic, the Spanish Flu.”
— but the actual first flight did not occur until 1922, as the first scheduled route was introduced as a mail service with an Avro 504K aircraft which also carried some passengers.
“The new airline focused on conquering the ‘tyranny of distance’ that was a major barrier to the growth of modern Australia. Its early chances of success were uncertain, to the point early backers called their investment ‘a donation’”, according to the aforementioned article. “Initially carrying mail between outback towns, the airline was flying passengers to Singapore by the 1930s. By the end of the 1940s its strategic importance saw it nationalised and in the 1960s it was an early adopter of the jet aircraft that mainstreamed global travel. Qantas invented business class in the 1970s, switched to an all-747 fleet in the 1980s, was privatised in the 1990s, founded Jetstar in 2004, went through major restructuring in 2014 and, by 2020, had recently completed several important ‘firsts’ in non-stop travel to Europe and the US.”
Summary
I fondly remember my experience years ago traveling as a passenger in the business class cabin on the upper deck of a Boeing 747-400 aircraft from Los Angeles to Sydney. I may even consider one day writing a trip report pertaining to that experience — especially if I can find the photographs and other media and documentation which is associated with it.
Other than that, what more can I say other than happy 100 years in business, Qantas Airways — and may the next 100 years be even more successful.
Other entities which have celebrated 100 years in business or existence include:
- The Mile High Club Celebrates 100 Years
- United States National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years Today — Which Means Free Admission For You
- Boeing Celebrates 100 Years in Business Today
- 100 Years of Nathan’s Frankfurters in Coney Island
- Today: 100 Years of Commercial Aviation
- New York: Empire State Building Race; Grand Central Terminal 100 Years Old; Stage Deli Closed
Source: Qantas Airways.
