=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/03/05/i= nternational0332EST0474.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, March 5, 2002 (AP) Sixty-six years of aviation tradition ends as Ansett flies for last time EMMA TINKLER, Associated Press Writer (03-05) 00:32 PST SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- An Australian airline that began by offering free flights and charging f= or the fruit served onboard touched down for the last time Tuesday, ending 66 years of aviation history. Ansett Airlines, once Australia's largest domestic carrier, landed its final commercial flight AN152 in Sydney early Tuesday after a trip over the Outback from the Western Australia state capital city of Perth. The company's staff, which had numbered 16,000 before the airline collapsed with debts in September, gathered at terminals across the country to toast the end of Ansett and wept as they considered their future. "It's sad not just for Ansett staff but for the Australian public, becau= se today the best airline in Australia -- possibly the world -- ceased to operate," said pilot Greg McCarthy. Earlier, the voluntary administrators who had tried to secure a buyer for Ansett apologized for failing to keep the airline alive. "We're sorry we didn't get there for you," Mark Mentha of the accounting firm Andersens told staff gathered at Perth airport. Crew onboard the last flight handed out champagne to 134 passengers and sang "Auld Lang Syne." Under its parent company, Air New Zealand, Ansett amassed major debts because of a price war in the Australian market and maintenance problems that forced it to ground a number of planes early last year. With government support, Andersens managed to get some planes back into the air while the search for a potential buyer began. Late last year, Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew offer= ed $940 million for a pared-back version of the airline. The deal was approved by shareholders and creditors. But last week, just one day before the sale deadline, Fox and Lew's Tesna consortium pulled out of the deal. They blamed stalled negotiations with the government and airport owners over Ansett's leases of domestic terminals across Australia. The government responded that Fox and Lew were demanding too much cash in subsidies to keep the carrier airborne. About 700 staff will be kept on in the short term to do work such as maintenance on aircraft and refunding tickets. Ansett was founded by Australian aviation pioneer Sir Reginald Ansett in 1936 in a small town in Victoria state. The fledgling airline's free flight policy with charges for the onboard meal were put in place to overcome laws at the time forbidding competition with the state's railways. By 1969, the small fleet had become Australia's largest domestic airline. The carrier saw its share of passengers dwindle over the last 10 years as Australia's international airline, Qantas, entered the domestic market. Further competition also took its toll as cut-price airline Impulse -- now owned by Qantas -- and Virgin Blue took to the skies in 2000, leading to a fare war. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP