By Gretel Sneath 

A South Australian regional airline has seen the sunshine break through the clouds thanks to the faith of one of its frequent flyers.

When the fax arrived from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on a fateful day last August, the managing director of the Mount Gambier-based O’Connor Airlines knew his family’s company was in grave danger. Admitting defeat isn’t normally in Leigh O’Connor’s nature but the preceding months had been turbulent, to say the least.
The downward spiral began in February 2007, when one of the company’s Jetstreams was decommissioned due to problems with corrosion. Four months later, O’Connor Airlines was forced to cancel its Mount Gambier to Melbourne route, after the flights were declared no longer financially sustainable. The reluctant decision ended an interstate service which had been in place for almost two decades.

“The only good to come out it was that we knew it would stop some losses and give us a chance to really focus on the other routes in terms of competition and customer service,” Leigh O’Connor reflects.

Little did he realise that the move would only slightly soften the blow that was still to come. Which brings us back to the August 24th fax. It contained an ultimatum which was part of a nationwide directive from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority: by midnight that evening, the company’s nine-passenger Cessna was to be permanently grounded amid concerns that 441 Conquests with more than 22,500 hours service could pose a safety risk. The O’Connor aircraft had already clocked 24,500 hours, so it well and truly fits into this category but Leigh O’Connor says it was hardly a case of negligence on the company’s part.

“We had purchased it on the understanding that it was good for 60,000 hours,” he says.
With the company already one plane down, the shock announcement from CASA was the last straw.

“It effectively decimated our operation and spelt the end of O’Connor,” he says.
The Whyalla leg was the next domino to fall; flights to the Iron Triangle were cancelled within a week. Then, less than three months later, the family-owned airline went into voluntary administration. The last flight took place on Friday, December 14th, 2007. It was heading from Adelaide to Mount Gambier and Leigh deliberately made sure that he wasn’t the captain.

“I flew in the morning but left the airport at around midday simply because I didn’t want to be there. To me, it represented the end of 38 years of hard work and it was too emotional,” he says.

The local community shared that pain. The tributes flowed from all walks of life, the overwhelming consensus: that it was a sad day for the family-owned company.

“Not many people know that this airline took a whole school, well over 300 children, on flights over Adelaide, totally free of charge. These were socially disadvantaged children, some who had never been to Adelaide, some who had never even been to a beach! I was supporting some children on one of these flights and was delighted to hear a child who was looking out the window saying he had seen a pyramid. What he actually saw was the steps of a quarry but who was I to stop the magic,” read one internet posting.

One of the Mount Gambier region’s most successful businessmen was also moved by the predicament. During his years as managing director of timber giant Auspine, Adrian de Bruin had become one of O’Connor’s most loyal passengers. His company was also the airline’s largest corporate client.

“O’Connors always supplied us with outstanding service but they were also local people which was very important to me – it was great for Mount Gambier to have its own airline, and even when there were signs of trouble, we decided to support them for as long as we could,” says Adrian.

When he found out that they had been forced to close the door, Adrian de Bruin felt the need to continue that support. That weekend, he went and bought a box of premium wines which he personally presented to Leigh as a way of saying thank you for looking after himself and his staff over a long period of time.

“I had known the O’Connor family for a long time and felt pretty sad about it all, so I was keen for them to know that I’d be there for them if needed,” he said.

Just how much support that offer entailed remained to be seen, because after recently deciding to sell his personal stake in Auspine for around $114m, Adrian de Bruin happened to be up for a new challenge.

Regardless of what that challenge was, one thing was certain: he needed a corporate base for his substantial business interests outside of Auspine. The former O’Connor Airlines headquarters had a ‘great position’ and seemed ideal.

Adrian made contact with the administrators and arranged a formal inspection. “The administrator then said, ‘’here’s another couple of buildings, you know’, and then showed me through a warehouse, and then the airport hangar which was full of planes and all these facilities…I thought it was such a waste – a hell of a waste – and after flying on planes for so many years, I realised that I had taken all the extra things like servicing and maintenance for granted,” he says.
Weeks later, while anxious creditors were seated in a meeting awaiting the fate of their investments, a deal was being done to buy out the business…with Adrian de Bruin announced as the purchaser.

“I said to him ‘Mate, do you know what the bloody hell you have done?” said Leigh.
“No – but you do,” Adrian replied.

“Would I ever have foreseen this? Absolutely not. I’ve been in forestry for 40-odd years; basically it’s all I’ve ever done,” he told local media at the time.

The millionaire businessman was also the first to admit that he knew basically nothing about his latest acquisition and, from the outset, depended on Leigh and his wife Sally O’Connor to act as guides.

“It was an absolute inspiration to me to see that Adrian de Bruin was as sensitive about what had happened and wanted to be a party to fix it,” said Leigh.

The company’s highly experienced maintenance engineers were reinstated, and the first priority has been to set up a business which would protect other airlines from a similar fate.

“Having been subject to the CASA grounding, we’ve now set up a specialised program under the banner O’Connor Aeromaintenance to carry out inspections on similar types of aircraft,’ Leigh explains. There are 142 400-series Cessna aircraft alone, with exact numbers of the 300-series still being established.

“There is a huge opportunity to help reinstate those planes subject to an age inspection, but realistically, they all have to be inspected regardless of their age and we are the best people around to do that work,” Leigh says.

Anticipation is high - so far, enquiries have been received from as far away as Perth.
“It’s quite a unique concept to have something like this which is not affiliated with any particular airline, and there’s nothing like it outside of a capital city,” Leigh says.

The aeromaintenance service also covers local, privately-owned aircraft. Up until now, work such as this took low precedence – simply because putting an airline in the sky 26 times a day was the priority.

“But now we can make this our main priority and we have some of the best people in the industry to achieve that,” Leigh says.

With the focus now firmly on the aeromaintenance division, the reinstatement of a passenger airline has been ruled out by the company, however plans are in the pipeline to use two Jetstreams for corporate charters and tour groups.

“We still have a lot of ground to cover with CASA in terms of meeting the significant procedures and requirements of our Air Operator’s Certificate but our marketing team has identified enormous potential for corporate or private charter flights for up to 16 passengers, showcasing local natural attractions as well as the Limestone Coast region’s high-profile food and wine industry,” Adrian explains.

“There’s also a ready market for flights to Melbourne, the Victorian ski slopes, Adelaide, and Sydney AFL fixtures, concerts, theatre and other major events and, of course, the mining boom which we could tap into…the prospects are really exciting.”

The aircraft will be repainted with the new Travel O’Connor logo and interiors will be refurbished, with several seats removed to ensure extra leg-room. “In terms of travels costs, it will probably be slightly dearer than a standard ticket but passengers will arrive at their destination on time - and we won’t leave any people behind,” says Adrian.

In addition, there’s a Cessna 150 waiting in the wings. The company says it’s prepared to sell the aircraft if the right offer comes along but is equally happy to hold onto it.
“This is a region with a population of more than 60,000 people and there are pilots in town with nothing to fly…not even the local aeroclub has its own aircraft available for hire,” says Adrian.

“There is also 250-300 hours a year of aerial survey work and fire spotting available, along with single engine charter opportunities and we think all of these options have a lot of potential.”