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If one particular model airliner could be credited with making interstate air travel affordable to the average Australian, it was the Boeing 727. This aircraft was not only the best-selling
airliner in the world during the first 30 years of jet transport
service, it was the first jet airliner brought into service (by both
domestic carriers, Ansett & TAA) onto Australia's interstate air
routes. Its introduction gave other forms of interstate travel their first significanct challenge from aviation. For many Baby Boomers, an
interstate flight on a Boeing 727 was their introduction to air travel.
The jet age essentially began in 1952 with the introduction of the British-designed de Havilland Comet, which Qantas used on its overseas routes. Several jetliners, including the Boeing 707 (also used extensively by Qantas), were developed before the 727, but none came close to the latter's sales record.
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| Model showing the 727's lowered airstair |
An Ansett 727 at Perth Airport |
Production of the 727, which was a short to medium range narrow-body jet aircraft, extended from the early 1960s to August 1984 - a remarkable length of time, considering the original market forecast was for 250 airplanes. As it turned out, 1,831 were delivered. Twenty years later, when the last 727 was delivered, this versatile fleet was carrying 13 million passengers each month. As of January 2001, nearly 1,300 of the reliable aircraft were still in service. On 13th January 1991, the first 727 built - which had been in continual service with United Airlines since February 1964 - finally made its last commercial flight and was donated to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Upon its introduction, the 727 trijet became an immediate hit with flight crews and passengers alike. With a fuselage width the same as the 707 (and the later 737 and 757), it provided jet luxury on shorter routes. With sophisticated, triple-slotted trailing edge flaps and new leading-edge slats, the 727 had unprecedented low-speed landing and takeoff performance and could be accommodated by smaller airports than the larger 707 required.
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| Rear three-engine configuation of the Boeing 727 |
Rear exit airstair |
The Boeing 727 was the perfect new aircraft for Australia's interstate routes, as it was economical, not too big, and none of Australia's major airports required modification in any way (extended runways etc) to cope with it. The 727 was used as a replacement for the ageing prop-jet Vickers Viscounts and Lockheed L.188 Electras of Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) and Ansett-ANA.
The Boeing 727 featured an airstair, which is a passenger staircase that is built in to the aircraft on the inside of its clamshell-style rear door. The stairs can be raised or lowered while the aircraft is on the ground, allowing passengers and ground personnel to board or depart the aircraft without the need for a mobile staircase or a jetway.
In the early 1960s TAA introduced the Boeing 727-100 and Douglas DC9 as
well as the Fokker F27 Friendship for regional routes. By the late
1960s it had a massive network criss-crossing the continent, as well as
an internal network within Papua New Guinea and flights from Darwin to
Timor. At this time the airline's livery was the famous white T on a
blue tail. TAA marketed their aircract as T-jets; one of the more
memorable television advertisements of the period was based on the
jingle "Up, Up and away, with TAA, the Friendly Way". Ansett introduced the Boeing 727-100 to its fleet in 1964.
Further expansion occurred in the 1970s and larger 727-200s (simultaneously by TAA Ansett) were acquired. Once again the terms of the introduction was restricted by Australia's two-airline policy.
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